thanks to all for the help and info. this problem has turned out to be one of those 'needle in a haystack' finds. (a little background: ) i had an oil leak that dripped onto my exhaust pipe. the rear mail seal was replaced. soon after, i noticed that i was seeing smoke still and that it smelled like burning trans fluid and not oil. had some repairs done, but none worked. the problem progressed to only leaking after long, durating (is that a word??), start and stop traffic (pressure build-up). i had taken my car to the shop so often, only to have them NOT get it to leak or leak so little that they couldn't pinpiont the source, that i was about to charge them for having my car grace their lot. anyway, one of the mechanics had an epiphany, brain child or figured that they had gotten enough money from me (or got tired of seeing my car) and decided to shoot some dye into the trans. and put a light on it to find the source. they finally found it and turns out to have been the upper connection (???) of the kickdown cable. it's been a little more than 2 weeks now and no leak (i have acquired ANOTHER smoke problem, but that is being addressed now.) let this be a learning experience for all in case you have the same troubles.

Bubba