Ah, ‘tis great that worked out ok. :-)
The leak absolutely fits the symptoms you described. How it was missed by the shop I don’t know.
However, one of my best friends operates a single proprietor w/ several employees auto repair shop in the Chicago ‘burbs. Sometimes an employee just doesn’t perform or even (fairly rarely) “goes bad”. I think I’d be inclined to give 20 years of good service the nod over an obvious but single mistake / jerk, but, that’s not my call.
Our car’s transmission seems ok / has survived the ordeal. I realized after I got home I’d left part of a tool back at the cemetery entrance I’d pulled off at: So I went back up there a few days later with a big magnet (the part is steel). The spot to search was obvious — it had not rained yet, and the transmission fluid that had sprayed onto the near-bare surface was obvious. But, the part was gone. :-(
I also noticed “evidence” of multiple car repairs at that very spot!! I mean, literally withing 15 ft. of where the front of my car had been sitting for those several hours were: A ~ 15” piece of ~14 ga. wire, a very interesting large “washer”, 3 package labels for various car parts, a couple used zip ties... Apparently others have found that to be a good spot to stop when trouble hits.
Now, to figure out my intermittent engine overheating problem... (Eye roll!)
Yeah, I have a soft spot for that business. It was a family run affair for a LONG time. Whoever spoke to my son the first time obviously felt that our son was trying the pull one over on him, but he wasn’t. We had video proof from our local dealer of how dry that line was. Bone dry. He just wanted to have an inspection of that line performed, which eventually happened.
As to your part being gone a few days later, it sounds like it was a good spot to pull over for repairs! Good luck sorting out the other unresolved issue.
I hate car problems, because I know very little about them. I just want cars to work so that I can get from one place to another. I don’t need fancy. I need dependable.