Tranny leak

[That]

Thanks SteveC for the explanation. Does this leak occur only when you operate shift lever( one or two second per shift) or is it a continuous leak? I mean, if I take a long extended trip of 1000 miles or so, will this leak be a continuous thing as I drive down freeway, or only when I shift gears. Again, my thanks for sharing your expertise in this matter.
Terry

[IndyMark]

Is that a special exhaust and heat shield?

[That]

I think I have solved my problem. I recently changed oil in tranny. My tranny has two fill plugs and one drain plug. Both fill plugs are on passenger side, upper one has 12 mm plug and lower one 17 mm nut type plug. Upper is Allen wrench. I assumed upper plug was proper fill because you can see marks from a wrench where someone had taken it out. I was wrong. Proper fill us lower plug. I have no explanation as to function of upper plug. So, I drained oil out to lower plug level. Bingo!! No more leaks after test drive. Live and learn. Thanks to all for responses, in particular SteveC.
Terry

[KevAndAndi]

Interesting. I had been confused myself about the transmission plugs. This thread I started straightened me out on the matter:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=31781

Now I'm wondering if my transmission leak is caused by the change in transmission oil that was done by the PO prior to the car's sale to us. The upper plug looks molested. When I change the oil, I'll be able to determine whether or not that was mistakenly used as the fill plug, causing an overfilled situation.

The upper plug should be entirely unmolested because it doesn't serve any function, at least for the 1995cc, as I understand it.

[fiatfactory]

.

[That]

Thanks, Steve for explanation. You are correct that the seal is still leaking, although not as much since I drained oil out to proper level . Just wondering how does this 'seal leak' behave on highway driving? Suppose I drove 300 miles, all in 5th gear , no shifting. Would this leak still be going on as I drive down the highway, or leak just when I shift gears ? I'm trying to get as much time as I can before have to replace seal.
Thanks again. Terry