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It doesn't leak onto the ground, and it has nothing to do with the transmission. It is a very small internal leak between the cooling system and a combustion chamber (cylinder). Nothing drips on the ground - it gets blown/steamed out your exhaust, hence the white plume of smoke.
It is the result of a small (seeping) leak across the head gasket between a water jacket passage and a cylinder. A very small leak that only happens when the engine is hot and the cooling system is under pressure. So you drive, the engine gets hot, the cooling system gets pressurized, the seal between the combustion chambers and the water jacket is weak and starts to slowly fail. At first the leak is very small and pressure forces the coolant to seep into a cylinder. It boils off, sent out the tail pipe with the normal exhaust, with a very, very small residual amount getting into the oil. It doesn't seem like big deal - it is so small you don't even notice it. Then you park the car, but the engine is still hot and the cooling system is still pressurized, so the seep continues, but now it doesn't get boiled off and sent out the tail pipe, rather it accumulates in the cylinder. Finally the engine cools enough to lower the coolant pressure and the seep stops, but it has left behind maybe a teaspoon or tablespoon of coolant in the cylinder. A very small amount of this leaks down past the rings into the crankcase, contaminating the oil.
Next morning you start the car and WoW! the tablespoon of coolant gets blown out of the cylinder into the exhaust system. As the exhaust system heats up, the stuff vaporizes into a large cloud of white smoke, just like a crop duster! It lasts for about 1/2 mile until it all gets boiled off. The cycle is complete, and you start again at the beginning. Every day the leak keeps getting bigger, and more and more coolant (water) gets into the oil, and eventually you have a very big problem.
Have the dealer/indie do a pressure test on your cooling system.
posted by 129.44.187...
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