What could be causing our 1961 Cadillac Deville to be overheating and leaking

[kenogirlmd]

Transmission oil? We just replaced the hoses, water pump and thermostat. Radiator seems fine, but the car keeps overheating no matter what we seem to replace. It is running on a 390 v8 with a 3 spd Automatic transmission. The belt from the generator came off and we stopped immediately. Then it began leaking transmission fluid really bad. Why would the transmission be leaking so badly if the belt came off? Could we have screwed the transmission up ? Just trying to pin point the problem so I know what to call around and get prices on. Any advice would be great.

 

[blackmantis]

over heating could be cause by low engine oil,a clogged water jacket(its an old car that happens sometimes) your transmission is most likely cooled using your radiator,it could have got hot and pressure built up causing a leak.sometimes your radiator can get clogged too.Also it you just replaced you water pump its getting hot and your belts broke you may have a defected water pump(happens more than you would think probably)if the pump seized it would break your belt real soon after.you may have a blown seal in your tranny. fill up your transmission check if there are leaks while not running,if not start it (even though your water pump may not be working)just dont run it longer that 5 mins,with it running look for leaks,if none it just got to hot and released pressure by pushing a seal and the seal moved back in to place,if so then you will have to re place some seals.

 

[mikeyg]

The auto transmission fluid is also cooled in the radiator. It you look carefully there will be two small steel pipes coming off of the radiator (about 1 half inch). The have trans fluid in them that passes through the radiator and back to the trans. They could have been bent or loosened by the belt coming off.
Also try running it with no thermostat installed. It should run cool like that. It won't hurt it. That will eliminate the thermostat as the problem.
If this came on over a period of months or years, the rad or the block might be plugged up, but if it happened suddenly, it points to the things you already did.