I was towing my 25’ boat with my 2018 XLT with the 5.0 and 10 speed. On the way home after going over a bunch of bridges I noticed smoke coming out of the passenger side at night. Made it home disconnected my trailer and the smoke went away. Inspected under the chassis and it appears as something sprayed out on the passenger side closest the the cooler. I removed the dipstick and ran the truck up to 205 degrees to check the transmission fluid. The picture is where my fluid is currently at with a hot tranny. Where would this have sprayed out at? About to bring it to the dealership to have them look at it. Is it low on transmission fluid?

 

According to Ford drain and fill procedure 307-018, the hot level should be in the striped area right below the cross hatch. Appears to be in that range. It does not take much sprayed fluid on exhaust components to create a smokey situation when hot. I do not know what the cooler line pressures are, likely low. As you likely saw, the lines enter on the drivers side. Look closely at the brazed connections on the right side where the clips attach to the truck. Check for corrosion. It may be possible that the torque of towing allowed fluid to escape. My 18 5.0 doesn’t leak, but I did arrest corrosion on several. Just a thought.

 

Hello! Could you please send us a PM with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer? I'd be happy to see how I can assist you with this transmission leak concern.