Greasy transmission, should I be worried?

[DiscoLR4]

I just took off the under body shield of my 2015 Lr4 to change front diff oil, I see grease. No pooling of oil on the shield, no pooling on the floor, bought the car almost 2 yrs ago when inspection said bone dry underneath. Should I be worried or is this ordinary? Haven't changed transmission oil yet, although that's coming next. Any thoughts?

 

[txfromwi]

That is not "ordinary". Should be bone dry everywhere.

There are UV dyes that are compatible with all the various fluids we use (different dye's depending on application) (I personally would change/flush the fluids after using them).

Get some dye and a UV flashlight. .

While probably not your problem, keep in mind that it is possible to dump oil when changing the filter/adding oil and maybe (hopefully) all you are seeing are a few oops moments...

 

[powershift]

Check your t-case oil level. It could also be engine oil, its hard to tell. Feel up top in that first pic position and see if you can determine where else its wet to trace it back to the source unless the source is that cylinder looking feature. What part is that?

 

[DiscoLR4]

Changed tcase oil, level was about right. T case looks very clean and solid, leak likely not from that.

The photos are of the transmission, just north (towards the front of the car) of the plastic transmission pan. That's either transmission oil or engine oil, I'm guessing. Has to be slow leak, as there's no pooling anywhere.

I'm planning on changing zf oil, though I wasn't going to change filter (due to issues with dropping pan/access/and various recommendation says not needed) just drain as much as possible, and do multiple drain& refill to change out most of the oil. Wondering if I should try to drop pan in case that's where leak is. Although, leak when car is moving, would cause oil to go further back, and not move forward - this is grease in the forward direction from pan.

I'll also inspect engine bay area (remove some plastic), to see if I can see the source.

 

[powershift]

The leak could be an input seal if its coming from the transmission. The seal around the input shaft can fail and leak tranny fluid. I had that problem with an old TH400 and the only way to fix it was to pull the trans and in the bell housing behind the torque converter is where the seal is. That isn't a Land Rover specific failure, its more like the design of a lot transmissions because eventually that seal would start to let go. Its a $5 part.
The other seal to look at would be the rear main seal on the back of the engine. The brake vacuum pump can leak oil too. Its hard to tell where the leak is from the missing pictures of the undercarriage.

 

[txfromwi]

I am doing the transmission pan on the 2013 later this month and I am already making another tragically long video - in case you are inclined to wait a bit...

While access will be tight, I do not agree that this will require raising the transmission to allow access.

Per the ZF Factory Service Guide:

On page 1 - Depending on the driving style, ZF recommends a transmission oil change every 80,000 to 120,000 km or after eight years at the latest.

That's 50,000 - 75,000 miles

 

[ftillier]

Valve cover leaking down the back of the engine?

 

[ktm525]

I vote rear main seal. How many miles on this rig?

 

[Rover Range]

I vote rear main seal. How many miles on this rig?

Usually, on the rear mains seal leaks you would see oil coming from the weep hole at the front of the trans.

Looks more like a valve cover gasket leak.

 

[ktm525]

Fair enough. I stopped looking after pic 2.