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Car starts but no power

Car: Mazda Protege 1994, automatic

History: I had a radiator leak that was getting worse and worse for a few months. Once or twice the temp gauge went up to H. Yesterday I finally replaced it with a new radiator. It seemed to be fine - I drove 50 miles at freeway speeds with no overheating at all. Then I noticed the engine was revving very high and I started losing speed as if the clutch had worn out. I managed to get off the freeway and parked safely.

Now I don't know how automatics work or if it's related to the radiator repair, but currently the car behaves just like a manual gearshift with a totally worn out clutch. I can get to about 5 mph max. The oil on the dipstick looks fine (thick black) and the coolant seems clear - I only put tap water in there in case it all boiled off, Also, no smoke/steam in the exhaust. There's oil(?) dripping from on of the small, lower radiator hose attachments - the hose is clamped on so I'm not exactly sure where the stuff is coming from.

I'm taking it to a mechanic in a few days. Just wondering what may have happened???

Reply to
spasmous2
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Your ATF leaked out. The automatic transmission fluid is run through a heat exchanger in the radiator. That's the oil you see dripping out.

Reply to
Mark Olson

You probably have lost your automatic transmission fluid from the leak coming from one of the 2 lines going to the transmission cooler in the radiator. The problem can be solved by stopping the leak and putting in a quart of fluid and then measuring the fluid level when after warming up the car. The leak from the skinny metal tubes going into the radiator probably just needs to be tightened up a bit. If it's a push on type, you might need to replace the fitting with ones that fit. If the mechanic is not too far you could probably just drive the car there after putting in a quart of fluid. Refer to your manual for the correct fluid and location of the filler tube. Good luck!

Reply to
dsi1

Wow, this would be awesome, I hope it's just a fluid leak! So those little metal tubes contain transmission fluid, huh? Who knew ;) I figured it was engine oil sneaking into my radiator, which would be a whole nother post.

Thanks for the helpful replies guys.

Reply to
spasmous2

I don't like those transmission fluid lines going into the radiator. I know that it's probably going to be a strain getting a wrench in there to disconnect it which makes that the hardest part of replacing a radiator. The newer ones have a quick connect snap-on lines whose main feature is that they leak if not sized properly. Anyway, the most important part for me when replacing a radiator is to insure that those

2 lines are not leaking. The guy working on your car probably had other priorities.

On the bright side, at least you'll be putting some fresh new fluid into the transmission which, I think, is a good thing.

Reply to
dsi1

Umm... does that mean that you didn't check the ATF level after you finished the radiator install? That might be bad juju.

After topping up the transmission and verifying that it's not dead (for your sake I hope that it is not) I would go ahead and change the trans filter, because you might have put a lot of debris in there from slipping clutches

nate

Reply to
N8N

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