How much does it cost to fix a transmission fluid leak?

Question

Looking into buying a '95 pontiac firebird but the current owner says it has a transmission fluid leak. It also has 163,000 miles on it is this a common problem around this point for the car?

Answer 1

It depends where the leak is, if it is on one of the hoses it will be a cheap repair but if it is inside the gearbox or deeper in the car it can get expensive fast!

Answer 2

Not a common problem as far as I know having had one years ago (earlier model).  Leak could be two things, gasket which is really inexpensive or seals which are not so inexpensive.  Gasket should be all of a $100 fix totalled.  Seals were more as more labor involved etc so cost would probably exceed $300.  But rates might be better where you are and you can shop around (what I usually do).  

BUt assuming automatic here.  If standard then leaks are usually seals.

Answer 3

Depends where the leak is coming from, if it's the seals your looking at 400 dollars depending on what part of the country you live in, it could be the pan gasket, cost around 100 dollars, could be the cooling lines, cost around 60 dollars, it depends on how much labor is involved and the cost of parts.

Answer 4

Your transmission does need to be removed in order to replace the transmission pan seal but depending on how long it's been leaking it may already be too late and in that case you'll need a new transmission. Changing the gasket is very expensive because of the amount of work needed to pull out the tranny.