Coolant leak from Transmission?

[mko9]

I noticed when my wife departed for work before me that there was a small damp patch on the driveway. Over the last couple weeks, it has grown from about 6" to about 12" across. The liquid is on the passenger side, to the rear of the front wheels, essentially under the passenger seat area. I put it up on a lift and found some seepage from the bottom of the transmission (see pics). There is a black plastic tray on the bottom of the transmission. The seal looks to be bad, and there is seepage at the front right and the rear. The fluid seems like orange coolant (which was low and needed to be topped up) not red ATF.

Has anyone had this issue? How much did it cost to have the dealer fix it? Can anyone point me towards a manual?

The first image is the leak at the front right, looking from right side of vehicle towards left.
The second image is looking toward the rear of the vehicle
The third and fourth pictures are looking forward at the leak in the rear. You can see that fluid had run over the chassis member to the rear.

 

[Pfunk951]

That coolant is not coming from your transmission. If your coolant was low, that is a pretty strong signal that something has given up the ghost in the coolant system- and it appears to be splashed there from driving.

I would wager that it's coming from the rear crossover pipe or somewhere near it like where the heater core is fed. If nothing, check the back of the radiator and front of the engine.. Keep looking, it's in there somewhere.. Hopefully not under your intake manifold, but it could be..

I would pull the engine cover and look around- it is probably going to be high enough to have dripped down and wind blown on to your transmission..

Let's identify the problem and then talk fixing it- it could be a dozen things right now..

Keep us in the loop, and good luck,

Mike

EDIT: Keep an eye on that reservoir- DO NOT overheat the engine if you are going to keep driving it.

 

[BrandonM7]

For what it's worth, the ZF transmission fluid that should be in there isn't red like most ATF you may be used to. It's kind of a light brown/burnt orange - more brown than orange, though. It doesn't smell at all like traditional ATF either - kind of smells like toasted almonds that are a little burned. I know that's obscure, but it's the best I can come up with. It is highly detergent just like other ATFs, though, so if you can get some grease/dirt/gunk on your fingers and then rub this mystery fluid between your thumb and finger you can maybe determine which it is - the transmission fluid will feel slightly slippery and will clean the funk off of your fingers easily, where coolant will just feel like water and will clean about like water would. Transmission fluid also grows very fast on concrete/asphalt - just a few drops can make a 6" mark, and a few more drops can make it twice as big.

Sorry for the country-ass diagnostics - I grew up around dirt track cars and such, so feeling/smelling/tasting (yes, sometimes tasting) fluids is the easiest way for me to figure out what's leaking. Once you know what is leaking and where it's leaking from you can get a better idea of cost and effort to repair. It may be leaking ATF where you think it's leaking, but it could just as easily be some other fluid dripping/splashing/blowing into that area like what Pfunk951 mentions. Much easier to find the leak if you know what the juice is.

 

[mko9]

If that is actually transmission fluid, then I have two problems, because there is definitely fluid dripping off the transmission that does not appear to be coming from somewhere else, and I have a steady coolant drain of some kind. I have topped up the tank twice in the last few weeks.

 

[Pfunk951]

I am unaware of any place that could introduce coolant into the transmission.. Can someone chime in on how that could happen?

So far we know:

1. You are steadily loosing coolant
2. You have something that looks a LOT like coolant on the transmission bolts.

So how is it getting there..? Is there any of this on the top of the armor under the car? I'd probably drop the armor to see if anything is up there dripping..

Is your transmission slipping? I wouldn't rule it out, but I am at a loss on how coolant would be getting in there.. It does look like it's dripping from the pan, but how could that be?

Mike

 

[mbw]

Unless the transmission cooler is seriously messed up and letting coolant into the transmission fluid....

 

[mko9]

While it was up on the lift, I removed both the skid plates. Neither had any fluid on them, and I didn't see anything on the bottom of the engine, either. I will take the engine cover off and take a look at the top side. I'll also take another look at the front of that black tray to see if I missed fluid migrating from somewhere else.


EDIT: On any motor that was losing coolant, my first inclination would be a bad head gasket and I would go check the oil. Too bad some f'ing ****** at Land Rover decided we don't need a dipstick. I did take of the fill cap and check there. No sign of froth or anything, but I would much rather check a dipstick.

 

[Pfunk951]

We may need to have the system pressurized to find the leak.. If it drips from the tranny bolts only, we will have to regroup and figure out how in the holy hell you are spitting coolant out of your tranny.. Right now, our collective fingers are crossed that is not happening.

Do you have an IR thermometer? If so, we can check the level of the Tranny fluid- just to see how the fluid is..

Mike

 

[mko9]

I have a laser pyrometer for taking tire temps during track days. Would that do?

 

[Tom Palumbo]

I am having same issue. It seems as though it may be cross over pipe under manifold. I am pulling manifold tomorrow so will be able to tell for sure. I hope it is cross over, because head gasket might send me off the deep end.