Hey I'm knew here and could use some help. I took my car into a quicky oil change spot and of course they give me a run around on things I need to do. They said I had a transmission leak and said they could take a look at it further, but I told them no. I did however notice something leaking/dripping near my front passenger side axle joint. Has anyone ever had this problem or have any idea what it can be? I haven't had the time yet to really look at it bc of work, but was wondering if anyone had any idea. Any help is appreciated, thanks!!!!!

 

What color is the fluid comming out?

What year is your Sedan? earlier models did not have the Tranny dipstick.

 

Reddish brown. Is this power steering fluid?

 

Power Steering and the Transmission use ATF, or red colored fluid so it could be either or.

What year is your car?

If your car is loosing ATF I would be very scared that the level is falling to the danger zone.

Power steering is easy to see since there is a bottle in the engine bay which holds extra fluid. Its right next to the Washer fluid inlet. It says Hot high, Hot low, Cold high and cold low on it. So you cant miss it

 

I have an '06.

So I checked the power steering fluid and it is at cold max. Also when looking in the engine bay, right underneath the power steering fluid, I can see some fluid that has leaked onto whatever shield that is underneath it. Can this still be the transmission? It seems a little far forward for it, but im not sure exactly where the transmission is on this car.

 

Yea the transmission lines go to the radiator up front.

On the rear of the engine bay, on the passengers side right behind the engine there is a Dipstick for the transmission. You need a 10mm socket wrench with extension to get it out. You can fiddle with it with out extension but don't drop the bolt.

It has a round top, and the bolt sits on a L type bracket lower then the round top.

let me know if you need a picture.

 

So my engine is cold and my car is on a slant in the drive way, but the ATF is full. Tomorrow when I drive into work, I dont have a very long commute, I will be able to check the level with a warm engine on a level surface.

 

^ cool

Keep an eye on the fluid levels! Do not want to go low on them, You should bring your car to a shop in the near future to have it looked at.

 

Hopefully it's nothing more than a leak. Thanks for your help!

 

is the leaked fluid in the center of the engine bay or off to the passenger side?

the AT fluid runs in hardlines from the transmission up to the bottom center of the engine bay - look for two lines poking out below and adjacent to the crank pulley. if there's a leak, it would probably be where the hardlines connect to the two rubber lines going to the bottom of the radiator.

 

when i look down into the engine bay i can see a small collection of fluid on the passenger side of a shield or whatever it is down there. And underneath the car it drips from the passenger side as well, but this could also be runoff im assuming. I will be able to look at it more closely this saturday when i have more time. But at least i know what im looking for now, thanks!

 

You need to get underneath your car and determine where it is coming from.

If you look directly down at the radiator fans you will see 2 lines that come into the bottom of the radiator about 18 inches apart. These are the tranmission fluid lines going In/Out of the cooler.

 

little tip of advice. Don't go to quickly oil change types of places. Either go to the dealer...or a real mechanic.

Sure it's a few bucks more...but after you have to deal with a couple stripped oil pan bolts, or someone who forgets to put oil in the motor, or someone who doesn't put a gasket on the oil filter and watches the car drive off pissing oil out of the filter..then you'll realize the extra cash at the dealer was worth it. When i was young, friends of mine worked at these places. I could tell you plenty of horror stories of what went on in those places.

My family has their fair share of quicky lube disasters. Finally i've convinced them to either let me do the changes...or go to the dealer.

 

I had a similar leak.. but mine was obvious when i dropped the front under shroud. was a trans cooler hose. it was leaking all the way back past the exhaust y-pipe and then smoking. didn't even loose enough fluid on the dipstick and just replaced the cooler line.

 

i had the same problem before and what i did is i replace my transmission with some cheap transmission bec. the leak is worst already. in the end it is still working good as of now.