Please help me confirm the origin of this leak!
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Please help me confirm the origin of this leak!
All, first I’ll introduce myself. I’m Jesse and I’m new to the forum. I’ve owned 5 jeeps in my life (74 CJ5, 96 Cherokee, 05 TJ, 91 Cherokee and now an 09 JKU). I live in Winston Salem, NC and I had been living in Colorado for the last 6 years (from there originally).
I just bought a 2009 JKU with about 75k miles on it. The Jeep is immaculate and
has excellent service record history. Perhaps the immaculate part was a problem as I didn’t notice any leak when I bought it. A month later, it’s caked in fluid.
I first noticed what I’m 99% sure is ATF dripping from the engine oil filter (see picture). This struck me as odd because it’s nowhere near the transmission or the transmission lines.
About 2 weeks ago I had 315/70/17’s installed and the leak has gotten worse. It’s now spread to the area around the oil pan (towards the front) and is dripping oily red fluid all over (2-3”) pool every night.
As I understand it, the JK uses atf+4 as power steering fluid and the power steering pump is almost directly above the oil filter. This leads me to believe I have a failing/leaking pump. That said, I don’t see any fluid around the pump.
Still, I suspect this is the problem. Before I spend the time and money to replace the pump, anyone disagree and have a different solution?
thanks in advance for the help
I just bought a 2009 JKU with about 75k miles on it. The Jeep is immaculate and
has excellent service record history. Perhaps the immaculate part was a problem as I didn’t notice any leak when I bought it. A month later, it’s caked in fluid.
I first noticed what I’m 99% sure is ATF dripping from the engine oil filter (see picture). This struck me as odd because it’s nowhere near the transmission or the transmission lines.
About 2 weeks ago I had 315/70/17’s installed and the leak has gotten worse. It’s now spread to the area around the oil pan (towards the front) and is dripping oily red fluid all over (2-3”) pool every night.
As I understand it, the JK uses atf+4 as power steering fluid and the power steering pump is almost directly above the oil filter. This leads me to believe I have a failing/leaking pump. That said, I don’t see any fluid around the pump.
Still, I suspect this is the problem. Before I spend the time and money to replace the pump, anyone disagree and have a different solution?
thanks in advance for the help
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Thank you you for taking the time to reply.
Jesse
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Reason I ask is my lower intake manifold gasket was leaking and it looked very similar to what you took a picture of. The leak also made it's way on to my right lower control arm.
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I don’t see any sign of a leak near the intake manifold but I’m not going to rule that out. Do you know if the coolant in an 09 would have a slightly “slick” feel to it? The viscosity is similar to a really thin oil.
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