2004 Ford Taurus Leakage

What is the leaking fluid?

Transmission fluid is reddish in color. Engine oil is black/tan/dark brown. Check your engine oil and check your transmission fluid (with the dip stick). Take two seperate white tissues or paper towels and wipe off each dip stick. Observe what color the engine oil is and what color the trannsmission fluid is. Then wipe up the leak with a clean white towel or tissue and compair the color of the fluid leaking against the results of the dip stick fluids. Keep me posted.

It sounds like something hit the pan and caused your leak, as I am sure you observed. Check with your local dealer for a price on a new pan, or call your local junk yard for a used pan. A new pan is not availible from the aftermarket. I would go with a good junk yard pan myself, the difference in price may be shocking. Transmissions can be very tempermental. When you go flushing them out, they can act up. Removing the pan, installing a transmission filter kit (which will include the pan gasket), and adding replacing the transmission fluid will be fine. Unless you have been having mechanical trouble with the transmission, do not mess with it by flushing it out. You can open up a bad can of worms. Also, check the level of the fluid now; make sure the fluid is not too low as you are riding around getting parts. Low transmission fluid will destroy any transmission in no time at all.