Transmission fluid leak

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camino70

camino70

10 Year
Joined
Jul 1, 2015
Threads
51
Messages
1,343
Location
Canton, GA
Hi guys, I did a drain and refill 6 weeks ago, as I type this realizing I should check the level again.
I was running harder than usual yesterday, higher rpms/speed, no load.

I noticed a faint smell, I cleaned it up, drove a few miles and this is the result.

Can you help me diagnose?

Imminently catastrophic? Or can i drive today/tomorrow as is?

IMG_2706.webp


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Your hose clamp looks to have rotated a little from where it was before the draining. Assuming you used that hose.

If your rig is older, this could be the genesis of your slow leak.

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I don’t see why those clamps would have been moved for a transmission drain/fill in the first place.. but there does seem to be evidence of dried coolant on the low spots of those hoses.

@camino70 have you positively identified the red fluid as ATF or might it be coolant (which should be pink but who knows)?

If it’s ATF you’ll have to make a judgement call.. no way to verify adequate level without opening the level check port along with verifying temp first. So if you feel the leak is minor enough that you haven’t listed than a quart or two you may be ok. But without being sure that little is gone.. taking a big risk.

Then again a level check isn’t that difficult..
 
Thanks guys. It's transmission fluid. It doesn't seem to be coming from the clamp, it seems like it's coming from the transmission oil cooler assembly, 124100-8300.

I did have an intake valley coolant leak in the last year or so, I'm assuming what we see now is remnant from then. My coolant level is good.

It's my 2008 with 250k. Going to park it for a couple days.
 
Probably wise to reduce mileage until you can confirm fluid level.

There are two o-rings between the cooler and the thermostat block (90301-19020), plus two more between the Tstat block and transmission case (35147-34010). Seems like the logical place to start..
 
@camino70 congrats on getting your transmission fixed. I remember your posts from a couple years ago.
 
bloc said:
Probably wise to reduce mileage until you can confirm fluid level.

There are two o-rings between the cooler and the thermostat block (90301-19020), plus two more between the Tstat block and transmission case (35147-34010). Seems like the logical place to start..
Click to expand...
It's a great place to start, tomorrow. Thank you!
 
bloc said:
Probably wise to reduce mileage until you can confirm fluid level.

There are two o-rings between the cooler and the thermostat block (90301-19020), plus two more between the Tstat block and transmission case (35147-34010). Seems like the logical place to start.
Click to expand...

These o-rings look incredibly similar!
 
I did not use a tool to separate these, it’s not just appearance, it’s catches the nail. Not sure if that’s the problem?

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Parts from Japan made it in.

I recently saw a video of an S class MB transmission refill that showed the refill through the overflow, possible for us?
 
camino70 said:
Parts from Japan made it in.

I recently saw a video of an S class MB transmission refill that showed the refill through the overflow, possible for us?
Click to expand...
Not aware that there is an 'overflow' on the 200? Regardless, the only way to achieve an accurate fill is to have the temperature in the correct range, the vehicle level, the engine running, and fluid filled to the top of the fill port.
 
I think they mean refill through the drain or level-check port. VW DSG transmissions have to be serviced this way as well.

Personally I don’t know why we’d bother.. filling via the large fill port on the side of the transmission is easy and doesn’t require any special tools like the euros require.
 
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