hey guys.. So i went wheeling yesterday since it was beautiful and my girlfriend was in the mood. my neighbor came in his TJ and we went in some puddles, mud, minor climbs, and some washboard riding (5mph). Today i noticed some squeaking when turning right regardless of the speed. So I washed the undercarriage and crevices with my power washer and figured when i washed out the thick smelly mud, it would go away. When i went to reverse, it sounded like i was dragging an empty coke can under my Jeep for a few seconds. Now i see I'm leaking pretty bad by my tranny (6mt) by the crossmember. Its dripping down the Y-pipe onto the crossmember and onto my driveway.

I went slow through everything because its been a while since i was down there and kids are always throwing crap into the puddles. But i never got stuck or felt like i risked anything compared to all my other runs in the past. Tomorrow im going to really crawl under there but my tranny is soaked in oil now and i couldnt see if its coming from the actual tranny or its dripping from above. my motor oil seemed to be ok on the dipstick so i doubt its that. Before bringing it to the stealership i want to at least have an idea of where the origin is.

any ideas on where to begin??

 

if you are running the stock drivelines and have an auto tranny i would start to see if on the driver side, the driveline did not come in contact with the lip of the transmission pan. I had mine do that before I replaced it. The stock drivelines are just too fat to handle the articulation after a lift

 

I see you have a manual tranny. Best thing to do is clean all the oil off and then see where it originates. Seems to me tranny or T-case would be the likley suspects if it is back by the crossmember unless it is running downhill from the motor.

What color is the oil?

 

The oil is the same color as the motor oil. I cleaned all the crap off and watched it start back up again. Here's some pics.


Dirty



You can see where the oil path is



Here's where it starts to run down where the motor meets the tranny.



It seems to start by that "c" notch between the bolts. Not 100% but that's where my naked eye can see it begin



Another pic of it running



And there seems to be a little collecting by the black probe/ sensor.

I checked my oil level and it seemed fine. If anything it seemed high (they did my last oil change for documentation purposes).

 

and by "tranny" i mean bell housing.. im using mobil1 synthetic. i have under 19k miles. it seems to wick to the crossmember area, not originate there. aaaand im lifted so im holding off on taking it to the stealership.

 

If it is coming out between the motor and bell housing, it could be the rear crank seal. I hope not because that requires the tranny/t-case to be pulled as I think the JK has a one piece seal. Although if so I am surprised it has not got on your clutch plate and caused issues.

A little oil makes a lot of mess, so maybe it is engine oil and you just cannot see the difference on the dipstick yet. If they overfilled the oil that is not good.

Some people have had leaks at the rear of the intake manifold or a valve cover. See if you can get a small dental mirror or such to examine the back of the motor up top. It can run down edge of the bell housing and look just like that.

Check the fluid level of your tranny, just to make sure it is not coming from the front of that.

Just for the heck of it check your brake fluid, as I think the clutch slave shares fluid from that. It is probably not that but good to check.

Regardless if what turns out to be leaking I would not let them blame it on a lift. I can understand when a person breaks axle/suspension components with a lift and big tires the dealer tries to wiggle out. But not with an oil leak like you have.

If you have a Superchip or similar, flash back to stock and take it off.

I would not accept a warranty denial for a major fluid leak from the engine or tranny because of a lift, and they would have a fight.