Possibly Tranny Leak?

[yabismal13]

2002 Mounty

This morning I noticed a small fluid spot on my driveway. I got up under the car and saw that red fluid was dripping from a pan. I don't know much about cars, but since the fluid is a bright red, I think it might be related to the transmission. I bought the car used and haven't had any transmission maintenance. The previous owner is a mechanic, so he might have had regular maintenance on it.

Here is a picture of the pan itself. You can see the red fluid puddling up around the bolt.

Here is a picture of the pan in relation to the car. I know it's a little hard to see in the picture, but the drip is directly between the door crevice and the second indent of the side molding. The pan rests just behind the driver's front tire and towards the center of the car, almost directly under the steering wheel.

Does anyone know what this is, and how much of a priority it is for me to fix? Something a newbie (but fast learner) can do by himself, or better off for someone with more experience? Cost is a big issue since I only work part time.

Thanks!

 

[BigRondo]

Very difficult to see anything with those small pics. Can you get some larger Pics?

 

[p71]

That looks like an upside down picture of the transmission pan drain plug. There is a small torx or allen screw inside the plug used for refilling, check out the instructional threads about "5r55w fluid fill" in the transmissions forum for more details. You should clean up the area first and make sure whether the leak is from the plug or fluid is running down from somewhere above.

One thing that I don't recall seeing in the previous threads is that the drain plug has an o-ring on it to seal to the pan. You should have a new one available before removing anything, otherwise you will waste a pan full of new transmission fluid to change the o-ring.

 

[yabismal13]

Thanks for the reply! I checked out the forums on transmission (I didn't realize there was one. I should have posted there in the first place). I have a buddy with a lift, so he's going to check out the transmission for me in a few days. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[swetrid]

I have had to replace the drain plug on a few of these because the inner plug rotts away and can't be removed.

 

[1sheltie]

I have a 04 that has a leak at the drain. I replaced the drain plug today and still seems to be leaking. Has anyone run into this? Do I need to replace the pan? Thanks for any help you can provide