Hi guys I just got my 04 srt two days ago and its great! I do have a problem though and hopefully you guys can help me out. I'm pretty active over on the 2nd Gen Neon subforum and plan to be here as well.

Anyway after driving it home and for a small test drive around the block (did not get on it at all). The next morning i noticed a pretty big puddle of what my dad says is tranny fluid. It can be seen in the pic bottom right. It looks as if it is coming from two lines under the car drivers side. Any idea what it could be? Is it even safe to drive around? I checked again this morning and it leaked a bit more but not as much as the first time. Any help is appreciated, THANKS!

 

alright here are the pics. When I was looking at the line on the right, it looked as if that's where the leak (PIC#4 Shows it best)was coming from.Where the hosegoes into the metal piece, there waswhat looked like fresh oil around it.PLEASE SOMEONE HELP! would like to drive it to work but I go in in 45 minutes. ANYONE lol

 

is the transmission itself leaking? see fluid anywhere on the outside of the tranny housing?


you can see in the pic a little more clearly here the lines your talking about. you could put your finger into the 'fill hole' up top and see if you can touch fluid. if not you may want to add some and keep it, and fill some in:


unfortuantley my wife has the car out so i cant go looking under the hood at where the lines lead, but from what i recall i think the lines running under the trans may be related to the heat or a/c system.

if they connect into the 'canister' on the far driver's side, where the silver lines (which connect to rubber lines), then its part of the hvac system

 

well its leaking a pinkish fluid and they only place I could see it was on those lines i took pics of. I didn't see anything on the tranny but I will have to look again tomorrow, as I'm going to work right now. Thanks and if you or anyone else has anymore info, please speak up. Thanks!

 

if in doubt, be safe and leave it home. color of used tranny fluid is seen here:


if you do drive it for a short distance, when you park it place a large piece of cardboard under it (or a clean drip pan) then youll be able to indentify with more cetrainty what it is thats leaking out. my heater hose came disconnected on me before. i saw my little 'trail' after getting it out onto the street. by that time, i stuck my finger in the fluid on the ground and it looked like oil from all the dirt and what not picked up on the way down.
it could be the trans leaking down onto those hoses, making it appear they are whats causing the leak. but like i said, better safe than sorry. wait til lyou have the time to get a good look under the car.

 

Hey unfortunately me and some friends ran into this exact problem the other night but ours was at the Power steering cooler. Those line you took a pic of...one of them is a power steering line...if your tranny is low on fluid. check your power steering fluid... SRT's are infamous for a power steering leak but thats usually from the reservoir. just to be safe check tranny and power steering fluid, both are a redish color.

 

um, they aren't infamous for a power steering leak. they're infamous for a pcv oil leak,as well asa coolant overflow leak (on 03's only).

 

how exactly would i check the fluids?

 

now that I think of it, I could see very little fluid on the tranny itself but again couldn't determine where it was coming from. What you said aboutit leaking and making the lines appearlike they are the problemmakes sense flamingpinhead. i'll try to get the car up tomorrow. I'm gonna drive it around the block right now and put cardboard underneath to see if it leaks again.

If it is a tranny leak and I need to get it to a mechanic, its safe to drive it there correct? Or is it to the point where I should tow it.

 

as i posted teh picture of where the 'fill plug' is on the transmission. pretty much you remove the fill plug, stick your pinkyfinger inside and downward and you should be able to touch some fluid. if you need to add some use "Mopar ATF+4" (i have seen it at walmart for $4 a qt but you may have to seek a dealer for purchase). power steering fluid resivor you can see from the top, not a bad time to check your brake fluid and coolant as well. ill find some pics to post up in a minute.

if your fliud is leaking, you can always add some in (assuming your tech isnt that far from home). much like a car leaking oil you have to keep adding it in keep it full.
there was a recent thread with a horror story of a leaky tranny... but hopefully yours isnt that much of a problem. im personally not tech-savvy enough nor do i have enough tools and equipment to properly pull and 'fix' a transmission... so i would be taking that one to a trusted shop (or dealer if its under warranty still).

now, if you have AAA or some type of service like it... and you get so many free tows per year you could burn one up on getting it towed there to be safe. but if its just a small leak, check the fluid amount perhaps add some and see if you can drive it in. if your car starts 'popping' itself out of gear on the way there call for a rig.
my 01 neon (diff tans though) had all the fluid out of the transmission and i drove it for about 50 miles before it started popping out of gear on me. needless to say i pretty well fried the transmission after driving it over 100 miles w/o lubrication. adding some fluid at the first issue probably would have saved it until the origional issue was fixed.

Coolant Resivor:


Brake Fluid (DOT3):