Skyuest

Double checked my owner's manual to make sure I've been checking/ filling in the right spot. Since I owned the car I've always seen red ATF fluid from this same dip stick spot whenever checked. (driver side of the transmission near the firewall) It also mentioned how to check it, which are the steps I believe I performed after I got to work when there was nothing on the stick, even when hot. The weird part is since I've owned it nobody has added, or drained any ATF fluid. It's not leaked a drop either up until now, which leads me to believe it wasn't ever too full, because it would have caused me issues before now right? I've driven it nearly 4000 miles and no problems, no leaks, only work done was an oil change at a shop while I was out of town without my tools. Then it suddenly starts to dump it out of the Oil Pump housing breather hose with no indication it was going to happen that morning. Once I topped up less than 1/4 of a quart to the steering pump reservoir about a week ago in which I used the same ATF. Don't know if that has any bearing on this. Also, I spoke with my diesel mechanic friend on the phone, he mentioned that possibly the torque converter had failed somehow and was clogging something- causing this. Or maybe a vacuum line fell off and a pressure hose is going crazy. His disclaimer was that he works on ford cummins engines, and he was not sure. Thought I'd offer that thought. I'll be off work early today and should have some good time to work on it this afternoon, going to drain the fluid on my friend's advice and check to see what it looks like coming from the bottom of the drain pan. If it's all clean I'll put the specified amount back in according to the owners manual. (2.6-3.2 quarts)

Done, cleaned it up and with a little help of my more mechanically inclined neighbor, we traced it to what I think could be the over flow for the ATF? I have included a picture, and a video of it dripping out/ under the vehicle. Its located on the passenger side near the firewall, on top of the transmission. There are two tubes and the one closer to the front is spewing ATF onto the side of the transmission and the exhaust system right below. As soon as you turn the engine over it comes out pretty fast and continues to do so. My neighbor said it best: "god dang that's comin out like a volcano!" There's even some pooling up under the tubes. In the video at 2:25-2:35 you can actually see it dripping out of this tube. Picture Of the Leaking tube Video of the leaking tube Thanks so much for the help so far, @doublechaz - I hope this is helps steer us in the right direction, any further advice would be awesome.

Bought my first Subaru a couple weeks ago and love it, but today things have taken a turn. It's a 1995 Subaru Legacy L Wagon with the 4EAT transmission and AWD. Im 90 percent sure it's the EJ22 2.2L engine as well. I drove it to work like normal, and I noticed a good amount of smoke behind me going down the highway at 70. Then it started doing it at any speed, or when I was stopped. When I got to work I checked the fluids and noticed the ATF was low. As well as white smoke appearing to come from under the engine in the front. (Video link below) I went into work and came back out to find nearly a whole puddle of red ATF on the ground. Checked the ATF dip stick and there was nearly nothing on it. Luckily I keep a spare bottle in the back so I threw in a quart and drove it home, with it still smoking. (I use Castrol Import transmax ATF). Now at home im sure it's completely out of ATF. I check my fluids often and almost always look at the driveway when I leave to see if my cars are leaking anything. So this happened pretty quickly! Video #1 Video #2 In the first video you can see small drops of ATF on the ground under where the smoke is coming from, and after I got home that is where the larger puddle formed after sitting for awhile. The second shows which section is showing the most fluid drops. Like I mentioned before, there was nothing in my driveway when I left in the morning for work. In my best un-educated opinion, it's a seal leaking ATF onto the exhaust and thus we have white smoke and red ATF on the ground. What do you all think? Which seal could it be, and how hard would it be to fix? I do all my own fluid changes, filter changes, flushes, etc. but have yet to take an engine apart to fix seals or do anything more major than brakes or alternators. And if you do not think I can tackle it myself based on which seal it is/ whatever the issue may be, how much do you think it would cost to fix at an honest mechanic? I appreciate any advice and can answer questions about it. Thanks everyone!