4A-FE Automatic Transmission Leaking

My tranny has been leaking VERY slowly since the day I bought it. I thought it was leaking from the transmission pan gasket but I noticed there was also some fluid on the plastic engine bay splash covers, which is not underneath the transmission. So I looked what was leaking above the cover and found there is a hose extending out from the tranny leading to some sort of valve which is above the cover.

I have no clue what this hose is or leads to (can barely see it). I took some pics:


plus the tranny pan has alot of fluid all over it, so could also be leaking from gasket too.


also just noticed the blue stuff in this pic (looks like somebody tried to seal it??)





I just checked the fluid level with the car hot and running in park and the level was below the cold mark (almost empty lol). I need to do something soon.

So does anybody know what that hose is (beside the what I think is the gear selector)??

if it was me i would be making sure the hoses had jubilee clips but i would also question why someone has tried to seal it before? maybe when they sealed it they didnt rub it down and have it smooth before sealing so hence it hasnt sealed because of a small bit of rust or something.

Im no mechanic but I would say take apart what they tried to seal clean and rub it down then re seal it yourself if thats feesable?

im no mechanic so wait and see what others say before doing anything like that

Im probably just going to take it to Mr. Transmission (a tranny shop), I was just curious what that hose was?

Probably best to just take it to your mech haha, I am unsure of what that hose would be, never really messed around with the tranny of my car so I couldn't tell ya :S

That blue stuff looks more like corrosion to me than anything else, from leaking over time.