Coolant leak around transmission.

[thevabrowns]

I seem to have a coolant leak above my transmission. I cannot see where it is leaking but it seems to be running down both sides of the transmission. I see there is some kind of cooler next to the transmission that has water lines as well as transmission lines going into it I believe. I know it is not the main Transmission Cooler, as that is in front of the radiator. What is this thing, and has anyone experienced it leaking? Maybe just one of the hoses?
Thank You

 

[Atcer2018]

I seem to have a coolant leak above my transmission. I cannot see where it is leaking but it seems to be running down both sides of the transmission. I see there is some kind of cooler next to the transmission that has water lines as well as transmission lines going into it I believe. I know it is not the main Transmission Cooler, as that is in front of the radiator. What is this thing, and has anyone experienced it leaking? Maybe just one of the hoses?
Thank You

Two questions, are you sure it’s coolant and do you have the 3.6L V6 engine? I looked at your profile and it says 3.2L. The reason I ask these questions is a coolant or oil leak that runs down both sides of the transmission and coats the underside of the vehicle with the 3.6L Pentastar frequently has a leaking oil filter housing/cooler. That’s the thing where your oil filter goes on top of the engine.

 

[Wild one]

You have the 8 speed transmission,and it does have coolant hoses on top of the transmission,feeding coolant to the thermal management unit on the drivers side of the transmission.It's not common for them to leak,but it's also not uncommon either.They're a b!atch to get at.They're a hard line,that switches to a rubber hose at the top of the transmission.
In this pic,you can see where i looped mine together when i removed the thermal unit.Shortly after this pic,i swapped to the 6 speed molded hoses,and got rid of the coolant lines to the thermal management unit. I ended up cutting the hardlines to remove them. The looped rubber hoses originally connected to these 2 hose barbs on the thermal unit.

 

[thevabrowns]

Sorry about that. It is a 3.6L and I have changed it in my profile. Thanks for catching that.
It is definately coolant, and a good amount of it. I have a not so good video where I was trying to see where it was coming from but it shows the amount of fluid pouring out. I will see if I can post it.

 

[thevabrowns]

Wild One,
You were able to remove it, or you just connected them to keep from loosing too much coolant while replacing it? Those lines tdo look difficult to reach and I thought of bypassing it temporarily in the engine compartment. What would I watch out for if i bypassed the coolant lines, Transmission heating up? I am hot sure what that block is supposed to do....

 

[Wild one]

Wild One,
You were able to remove it, or you just connected them to keep from loosing too much coolant while replacing it? Those lines tdo look difficult to reach and I thought of bypassing it temporarily in the engine compartment. What would I watch out for if i bypassed the coolant lines, Transmission heating up? I am hot sure what that block is supposed to do....

Easier to just point you to a thread on the thermal management unit. Start reading about here.

RevMax 8 speed thermostat bypass

This pic might help a bit to ,you can see how the flow path is inside the thermostat housing. I see the hole in the bottom bore at Approx. nine O-clock which goes to the heater I believe. I see a hole just inside the upper bore at Approx. six O-clock. I believe that this is the entry point...

www.ramforum.com

 

[TKC432]

So I read this entire thread and still need to ask this question It may sound stupid but for the life of me I’m stumped on this one So 2020 Ram 1500 Big Horn 4x4 5.7 Hemi 72k miles With the tranny we are all discussing here Few weeks ago truck overheated and came to find the radiator bone dry !?!? So I added coolant and with the truck off I began to see leaking at the tranny heater …. In the same location as the typical failed rubber o-rings on the tranny oil in/out But I swear this is coolant otherwise why start leaking only when I add coolant? It gets weirder read on…. So I decided to bypass the heater temporarily and traced the two coolant lines to under the hood coming off the lower radiator hose … 2 nipples on a T inline on lower radiator hose Simple so I took them off and put a new lower hose on without the T So essentially there should be no coolant flowing down those lines to the tranny heater anymore right ? Well to my surprise as I was filling the radiator back up coolant came out of one of the two lines I’d cut under the hood … ????… so I just quickly took a couple nipples and hose clamps and looped the two lines together Easentially exactly what @Wild one did here except under the hood rather than above the tranny heater :… so problem solved right ? But wait How the f*ck was coolant even getting into one of those lines anyway??? So I just kept filling the radiator pondering this conundrum and then started her up Ran for a few min before the original coolant leak at the bottom of the tranny heater started again !!!??? Can anyone here explain that ? Makes zero sense to me Only explanation is that I’ve mistaken tranny fluid for coolant …. But then where did all my coolant go to cause the overheating issue to start with ? PLEASE HELP I’m no newbie to wrenching on my own trucks But I’ve been a Ford man for the last 40 years and this is my first Ram And we all know the massive amount of issues with the 2019-2022 model years But this one has me dumbfounded

 

[Wild one]

Well you got me on that one. About all i have. is to try unbolting the thermal management unit off the side of the transmission,and inspect it closely,but if you've disconnected the proper coolant hoses feeding it,there shouldn't be any pressurized coolant at the heater,but it's about all i've got.

 

[TKC432]

@Wild one My bad …. Went back and looked closer without being tired and sweaty and it nearly dark and low and behold I cut one of the two lines correct and one was the wrong line So I spent maybe an hour re-doing what should’ve been a simple task and now it’s not leaking and no longer a conundrum However the truck seems to be running hotter then before I tend to park idling for hours with my job and over the last 2 years with this truck I never once heard the fan come on or saw the coolant temp rise above 220 Now just in the drive through at Burger King it hit 232 and the fan kicked on It cowed back down to 210 once I was heading down the road again but this has me stumped now ? I replaces the thermostat a week ago with the OEM 205deg …. Perhaps the one I removed was a 180 or 195? I bought the truck used with 18k on it but I figured it had the stock thermostat at that mileage So would using a lower temp thermostat allow it to run cooler and not hit 230 at idle ? Logic tells me NO since the lower temp thermostat only means the coolant flow to the block would kick in at a lower temp but if it climbed from 205 to 230 with open flow then logic says even starting coolant flow sooner at 180 won’t have an effect on it I’m open to ideas from any of you more skilled Ram owners here Thanks

 

[Daw14]

Could it have an air pocket in the system after all the leaking ?