E280 Auto Transmission oil leaking badly...

[PINBALL]

Popped into Crawley yesterday (14 miles round trip), & on returning dropped off at friends house for 1 minute & noticed that steam was coming out of grille.

Opened bonnet to find that elbow that feeds long pipe to radiator header tank had come adrift spewing anti-freeze water all over the engine.

Pushed elbow clip back onto right side of radiator top without a problem.

Today, filled header tank with water and did 5 mile round trip to local garage as indy is fully booked with work till next Wednesday.
Left heater on full (no water leaks could be found anywhere else) and problem has not re-occured there n back.

However to my dismay on returning have noticed a trail of transmission fluid on road outside my driveway of my going and returning trip and seems to be constantly leaking!

Am guessing that its transmission fluid as local garage said there is an integral gearbox fluid oil cooler built into the radiator, and oil on road looks too thin to be engine oil.

Before setting off today, and after topping up with water, I checked the engine oil which never moves its level from cold which is always bang on top line of dipstick.

Can anyone point out where to look for this problem please?

And how could a transmission oil leak have any effect on radiator pressure or behaviour?

Since buying the car 6 month's ago, water & oil have never hardly moved thier levels for over 2,000 miles covered.

Any advice or ideas very gratefully recieved.

Regards, Keith.

 

[kwh]

Tranny Fluid Color and Cooling Lines

The transmission fluid is thin and it is colored red. There should
be a couple of lines (feed and return) from the radiator base along
side the engine oil pan toward the transmission. These carry hot
fluid from the back of the trans to the radiator for cooling and return
the cooled fluid to the front of the transmission.

Check the fittings at the radiator end, as they could have loosened.
Abrasion on rubber sections of the feed/return lines (if any) will soon
spring leaks. Can happen after working around radiator...

Check also that it may be power steering fluid (basically the same as
tranny fluid... red hydraulic oil). Also has hi and lo pressure lines...

kwh

 

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Many thanks for that prompt reply KWH

Hoping to get car up on ramp later today & check those points.

 

[wrichardson1999]

Similar problem

Hi,

Had similar problems since getting my radiator re-cored a little while ago? though everything seems tight??

There are two feeds at the bottom of the radiator that contain oil, one seems to twist when connecting? is this write?

Cheers

 

[PINBALL]

Further report from KWH reply.

Had car up on ramp today, teccy spent 1/2 hour checking all transmission pipes from gearbox & gave a thumbs up for radiator, pipe connections & fluid level.

No apparent reason could be found for elbow popping off of radiator & spewing anti-freeze all over engine and problem seems to have dissapeared as quickly as it appeared 3 days ago!

Teccy did find trans oil leak coming from power steering pipes leading up to, or around pulley area behind drive belt-recently replaced with Merc new belt, which would explain why I'm getting oily streaks on road outside as pump is under load when cornering, but oil level in chamber was spot on level!!!

Confused! So am I as the car seems to be behaving itself again & transmission oil leak is no more, except for a dribble coming from power steeering pump down its pipes to bottom of engine bay, which is common on all high mileage cars.

Teccy suggested getting engine steam cleaned from below engine bay as well as on top, so a better analysis can be formed as to where fluid is leaking from.

So, in conclusion, does anyone out there have any knowledge on where the most likely points are to check power steering pipes for common leaks please?

Could it be spewing from a shagged out pulley bearing or common joint on power steering pump, or is it just throwing out excess oil from where the last owner bozo over-filled it?

Thanks for input WRICHARDSON1999 but am unable to help with your question, and why get rad re-cored?
Is this a cheaper way to recondition a rad rather than getting an exchange unit from Euro parts or whoever does them?

Once again, any answers very much appeciated.:?:

Regards, Keith.

 

[wrichardson1999]

Not sure, a company not far in teesside were recommended as they replace the old Ali core with a copper one (old school) so if I had any problems later they could simply repair rather than replace the whole unit.

They did a fantastic job and it only cost my a little over £50!, just checked eurocarparts.co.uk and there radiators are £89+VAT, almost double...

The Company is called Motorcool in Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees; first class service, also stip alloy wheels and re-paint/coat, £24 each.