Maybe someone has already experienced this one. I have a 97 Ranger
5-speed with approx. 90k miles. Since I bought the truck, it has consistently, but intermittently, had an odor in the cab of the truck which occurs generally only after driving for at least say 5-10 minutes. I'm 95% sure this is an ATF smell. I say this because I stuck my nose over a bottle of the Mercon ATF, and it smells exactly the same. It is not a "burnt" smell at all, just oily. At first I thought it might be brake fluid leaking from the slave cylinder. Now the slave and the clutch have been replaced, but the smell remains. I believe there is a slight leak at the transmission extension housing seal, but it is very slight, less than a half pint every thousand miles. And YES I have visually checked the 3 infamous shift rail plugs and they are high and dry. My question: could the slight leakage at the rear trans seal account for this persistent (and fairly strong) odor?