If your vehicle is leaking transmission fluid, you need to act quickly in order to prevent your transmission from becoming damaged. If you have noticed transparent red or pinkish fluid under your vehicle, that is a very clear sign that your vehicle is leaking transmission fluid. Luckily, you can easily stop your vehicle from leaking transmission fluid, at least for a while, with this quick and easy fix.

Locating Your Transmission Fluid Fill

On the majority of automatic transmission vehicles, the transmission fluid tube is located under the hood of the vehicle. In many modern manual transmission vehicles, the transmission fluid fill tube is located in the same place.

In some manual transmission vehicles, generally older models, the transmission fluid tube is located underneath the vehicle.

Before you proceed to the next step, check your owner's manual to figure out where your transmission fluid fill tube is located.

Under The Hood

If you can access your transmission fluid tube and tank from under the hood of your vehicle, it will take you no time at all to temporarily stop your transmission from leaking fluid.

All you need to do is remove the transmission fluid dipstick, and pour in an entire bottle of stop-leak fluid designed specifically for your transmission. Make sure you don't exceed the maximum fill mark for your transmission fluid tank while adding the stop-fluid. Once you reach the maximum fill mark, you need to stop adding the stop-leak fluid even if you have not poured in the entire bottle. On the other hand, if after adding the stop-leak fluid you are still low on transmission fluid, you should top it off with some transmission fluid.

Once the fluid is in place, put the dipstick back and put your hood down. Over the next month or so, check the transmission fluid levels in your car every week. If the stop-leak fluid is working, your fluid levels should remain constant and you should no longer see transmission fluid under your vehicle.

Under The Vehicle

If your transmission fluid access point is located under your vehicle, it is going to take a little more effort and mechanical expertise on your part to fix the issues.

First, raise the front or your entire vehicle with jacks in order to access the transmission fluid plug.

Once the vehicle is securely jacked-up, get under your vehicle and locate the transmission fill plug. Your vehicle manual should contain a diagram to help you locate it.

Take out the fill plug. If it is tightly in place, you may need to use a wrench to loosen the plug. Once you have removed the fill plug, squeeze in the stop-leak formula. Depending on how the bottle is constructed, you may need to use a funnel in order to pour the stop-leak fluid into your transmission.

Once the fluid is in place, re-attach the fill plug. Make sure that it securely in place. Once it is securely in place, you can remove the jacks from your vehicle. If the stop-leak formula worked, you should no longer see leaking fluid under your vehicle.

Keep in mind that this is a temporary fix. Eventually, you are going to have take your vehicle into your mechanic and have them permanently fix the issue behind your leaking transmission fluid. However, this measure can buy you some extra time to save up for that.