The basics:
'93 TA
A4
145K on the clock
No aftermarket parts to speak of, and only the basic free mods.
Meticulously maintained to the point of obsession by previous owner, including receipts for everything ever bought including replacement marker bulbs. Maintenance has been just as meticulous since I purchased it a year and a half ago. After all, what's the point in buying a cherry TA if you are going to run it into the ground?


The problem:
I dropped her off and had the fluid and filter changed. When I picked her up, I checked the fluid, then checked underneath for leaks. I drove 12 miles home, getting out and checking underneath again when I got there. No leaks. However, 30 minutes later, I left and drove 2 miles to a gas station. Once I got out, I smelled trans fluid strongly and checked underneath again. Fluid was pouring out at a pretty fast pace. This was NOT a drip. I couldn't tell if it was the pan or if it was coming from the dust cover, so I limped it back home to investigate.

First, I removed the dust cover. There was fluid inside it. I wiped away all the fluid I could on the pan and cranked the car again. Nothing...from anywhere. I topped the trans fluid off again and still nothing. I even parked it downhill and let it run for 10 minutes...and nothing. So I drove it about 10 miles and still nothing. Dumbfounded, I came inside and searched on this site for 30 minutes for similar symptoms and came up empty. At a loss, I went back out and cranked it again...and fluid was POURING out from the back side of the torque converter where the input shaft goes in (best I could tell, anyway). This was probably at a rate of 3 quarts more or less per minute.

I went ahead and removed the pan to see what I might find inside. The pan was clean and the magnet didn't have anything on it, however this fluid was only in the car for 4 hours at that point. One thing I did notice was that the guys at the oil change place put the filter on incorrectly. The rubber seal was actually on the filter and not in the trans itself, so the filter was flopping all over the place.

I'm very confident in my mechanical ability, but I know very little about the internal workings of a transmission. Would the filter being incorrectly installed have anything to do with this leak? Perhaps creating too much pressure or pressure in the wrong place, thereby causing a leak at the front seal? Am I looking at a front seal or a leak in the front pump? Also, why is the leak so intermittent, yet has so much volume when it does occur. Those two things don't seem to go hand in hand at all to me. It would seem that a 10 mile drive would be sufficient to show the leak, especially with the dust cover off, yet it didn't re-occur until I re-started the car AFTER the drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Clift notes:
Craziest trans leak I've ever seen with mad volume and seemingly only doing it when it feels like it.
Oil change places need to stick to changing oil.