00ES--3.2L Intrepid Mystery Fluid Leak Near Transmission

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Rich Arnold, Oct 23, 2003.

  1. Rich Arnold

    Rich Arnold Guest

    Greetings,
    Had my 00ES (3.2L) up on the rack for an oil change yesterday and noticed fluid in a strange spot.
    It was above the transmission pan. If you look on the passenger side of the transmission, there is a number stamp and to the right of that is a hole. I didn't see any threads to indicate that a screw/cap came off. It appeared to come from there.
    It definitely wasn't transmission fluid (not red). If I had to guess it would be gear oil (color and location).
    Would this "hole" be some sort of "safety" blowout area in case of heat or excess fluid?
    Haven't noticed any drivability issues. One thing to note is that we came across WV a couple weeks ago on I-64. My wife was driving and had the cruise control on. Well, going down those hills (mountains to us in the east) the transmission down shifted to try and maintain speed. So, of course the transmission is turning 3500 RPM. Anyway, maybe excessive RPM without any gas/acceleration (letting the engine coast) caused some sort of "safety" blow?
    Ideas?
    Thanx
     
    Rich Arnold, Oct 23, 2003
    #1
  2. Rich Arnold

    Greg Johnson Guest

    Rich, before jumping to conclusions about the mystery fluid,
    consider that it may have flowed to that location from
    somewhere else. For example, when removing the oil filter
    on that car, it's almost impossible to keep some engine oil
    from dripping down where it will keep moving somewhere else
    in small quantities. So it is possible that your leak might
    have been caused by something similar. See if you can find
    anyplace else where there is also oil, such as the brackets
    and frame under the oil filter.
     
    Greg Johnson, Oct 24, 2003
    #2
  3. Rich Arnold

    Rich Arnold Guest

    Thanx for the reply...
    It seemed to come from the area around that hole. The oil filter hadn't
    been removed yet.
    I can't rule out the possibility that the fluid came from some other area of
    the engine, it just seemed odd/obvious/coincidental that the fluid had it's
    origins around that hole. I guess knowing the function/reason for that
    "hole" would definitely help.
     
    Rich Arnold, Oct 24, 2003
    #3
  4. | Thanx for the reply...
    | It seemed to come from the area around that hole. The oil filter hadn't
    | been removed yet.
    | I can't rule out the possibility that the fluid came from some other area
    of
    | the engine, it just seemed odd/obvious/coincidental that the fluid had
    it's
    | origins around that hole. I guess knowing the function/reason for that
    | "hole" would definitely help.
    |
    | --
    | Rich Arnold
    | http://www.stpauls-portsmouth.org
    | http://www.callcarolyn.net
    | | >
    | >
    | > Rich Arnold wrote:
    | >
    | > > Greetings,
    | > > Had my 00ES (3.2L) up on the rack for an oil change
    | > > yesterday and noticed fluid in a strange spot.
    | > > It was above the transmission pan. If you look on the
    | > > passenger side of the transmission, there is a number
    | > > stamp and to the right of that is a hole. I didn't see
    | > > any threads to indicate that a screw/cap came off. It
    | > > appeared to come from there.
    | > > It definitely wasn't transmission fluid (not red). If I
    | > > had to guess it would be gear oil (color and location).
    | > > Would this "hole" be some sort of "safety" blowout area in
    | > > case of heat or excess fluid?
    | > > Haven't noticed any drivability issues. One thing to note
    | > > is that we came across WV a couple weeks ago on I-64. My
    | > > wife was driving and had the cruise control on. Well,
    | > > going down those hills (mountains to us in the east) the
    | > > transmission down shifted to try and maintain speed. So,
    | > > of course the transmission is turning 3500 RPM. Anyway,
    | > > maybe excessive RPM without any gas/acceleration (letting
    | > > the engine coast) caused some sort of "safety" blow?
    | > > Ideas?
    | >
    | > Rich, before jumping to conclusions about the mystery fluid,
    | > consider that it may have flowed to that location from
    | > somewhere else. For example, when removing the oil filter
    | > on that car, it's almost impossible to keep some engine oil
    | > from dripping down where it will keep moving somewhere else
    | > in small quantities. So it is possible that your leak might
    | > have been caused by something similar. See if you can find
    | > anyplace else where there is also oil, such as the brackets
    | > and frame under the oil filter.
    | >
    |

    I had a situation once where the mechanic ran through a puddle of
    transmission fluid in the shop and it splashed up in a unusual place. That
    created a head scratching session. Are you showing fluid loss anywhere?
     
    James C. Reeves, Oct 26, 2003
    #4
  5. Rich Arnold

    Rich Arnold Guest

    No. It was only in that area. You could tell the area from around the
    hole, down to the transmission pan and over to the left part of the
    transmission pan was "moist"/or showed that had been wet at one time. I
    know it wasn't transmission fluid because this was tan (oil) colored.
     
    Rich Arnold, Oct 26, 2003
    #5
  6. Rich Arnold

    Art Begun Guest

    Didn't the older version have a weep hole for AT or transaxle fluid?
    Haven't seen it mentioned for a while so I think it was the old and
    don't know about the new.
     
    Art Begun, Oct 28, 2003
    #6
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