jnbeyond

anyone have an idea where my 04 c320 spt could be losing oil, there are no spots in the driveway, no sign of leakage on the undercarriage, changed oil about 1.5 mos ago. Thought the oil was seeping out from o-rings on the filter, but to no avail...nothing. But every month or so , the oil indicator pops up and says add 1 qt. Mobile1 is about 7$ a qt. in Md and that X's 12 can add up to be the same price as a diy change :-[

mtnman82

If it's not leaking, the only other place is out the tailpipe. Have you looked at the spark plugs? That would be a good place to start.

johnand

Matt,

I regularly check my transmission mount based on your experience with them, but mine is always solid and I have yet to have a NVH increase, so I suspect the 722.9 mount is much more robust than the 722.6. But, if you do a search online, the 722.6 and 722.9 mount look almost identical

LILBENZ230

From what my mechanic was telling me - unless the mount is visibly split or collapsed you can't tell anything by how it looks when the car is parked. They gave me my old one back and it had only been on the car for 20,000 miles. It LOOKS fine. But it was clearly weak as my car has less drivetrain lash, less noise and vibration, and even feels tighter over bumps now than it did before. I'm hoping the last mount was just a bad one and my car isn't going to eat them every 10-20k miles, but if it does it is only $80 all in to replace it and totally worth it for how much newer it makes the car feel.

pogijeffrey

DAMN! im up there with u all. im more concerned with my suspension though. i dont know what parts to replace. could someone help me out. i would like to replace the most needed areas of my suspension. i hear a rattling in the rear. and what wears out more up front and how would i notice it....

buklae620

I'd keep it simple and begin with the basics - shocks/struts, tie rods, control arms, get an alignment check, ball joints, etc etc.

I always do a visual inspection when under my car while doing oil changes. I look for the obvious, leaks, rips in bushings, etc. Luckily my suspension seems to be okay and fine after replacing my stock shocks/struts with some Bilstein Sports.

LILBENZ230

I have my car inspected at every oil change, too.. thoroughly. No leaks, no bumps, no bangs, no squeaks.. still completely solid.

Glyn M Ruck

I think Matt has made us all a bit paranoid around here. I check mine too but no problems yet

A friend however has to reverse down a steep driveway & then turn diagonally across a chassis twisting gutter into the road below his property. His car required a new transmission mount recently. I wonder whether certain situations soften them more quickly or at least make a noise noticeable.

I also feel the front engine mounts need to be maintained in good condition to reduce stress on the rear mount.

johnand

My driveway sounds just like your friends driveway. Difference is I have to back up a very steep driveway, then diagonal out a steep transition the other way. My front mounts look good too, but yes, Matt has made me paranoid about them Matt probably is wiping his out from all the brake stands and stoplight races Oh wait that is Karo

LILBENZ230

My car leads a demanding life so I suppose it could be the reason it is on its 4th transmission mount.

And yes, John, that'd be Karo. Can you picture those in a C230? For comedic purposes only.

Glyn M Ruck

samaritrey

So poor matt's car is on the side of the road in some random place in Georgia. All I know is that there was smoke, Oil leaking from somewhere and what may be a hot chick under his car.

johnand

Trey, is it possible it is that pesky o-ring on the transmission? More likely IMO, is his indy didn't get something back together right when they did the transmission flush.

Glyn M Ruck

+1 It could also be the tranny ouput shaft seal but more likely as John suggests.

samaritrey

Yeah we figure it is something loose from when they did the flush.
What would happen if the transmission was over filled? could it be forced out somewhere?
Matt asked me that last night and I figured it would shift bad and could go into limp mode but I guess it could come out places you don't want it to.

LILBENZ230

It is not the TCU bushing, that was checked and found dry just days ago. The car was towed back to my house and sits in the garage now leaking very small amounts of what is definitely ATF. Glyn, what is the output shaft seal you speak of? Never heard of that.

The car was fine the past few days. Last night, myself and two friends were merging onto I-75.. As we were speeding up and merging into traffic, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a tremendous amount of smoke. I immediately slowed down and exited and pulled into a gas station. When I lifted the hood there was smoke, a burning oil smell, and I assumed that the same thing had happened that happened once before not too long after I got the car. The oil filter o-ring wasn't installed correctly and the car lost oil. But I looked all around the engine and couldn't see signs of oil anywhere. The transmission wasn't shifting funny or anything. My friend Amber and I crawled all around the ground wiping fluid and taking photos up under the car and we decided that it wasn't worth the risk to try to make it back home. AAA came and towed it here.

AAA will send someone out again Monday morning to tow it back to my indy mechanic. I'm not sure what went wrong, but something definitely is not kosher. The amount of fluid it is leaking while sitting is not much, but when you look under the car you can see at some point quite a bit escaped as the underside is coated and there's a fine film of it on the rear bumper.

I am super irritated that it can't be driven and worried that it is not a mistake that will be corrected, but something new.

Trey - I was just guessing. They've changed the fluid before and they have the proper tool to check the level.. that it would be overfilled is unlikely.

LILBENZ230

The transmission pan appears to be dry?



No sign here, either?



Here you can see where the fluid hit the exhaust. But where the hell did it come from?!



There is fluid all down the underside.. but I can't pinpoint where it begins.

LILBENZ230

Karo mentioned a pressure release valve on the "top" and said from looking at these photos it looks like it was possibly overfilled. The mechanic has the correct 722.6 measuring tool and procedures so I'm not sure how that could happen.. But I've never heard of a pressure release valve?

Glyn M Ruck

Matt. I thought it might be the rear transmission seal where the propshaft connects to the transmission. From your new photos that seems unlikely. If your guy did a full flush then I'm more suspicious of a leaking cooler line to the radiator. If over filled maybe blew out of the breather but I presume your guy knows how to get level correct.

This is unlikely anything major. Just a PITA.

W203E35

The breather doesn't have any oil on it? Open your hood ant look at the tranny is their any oil residue on there. That's what I meant when I said valve.

W203E35

The thing is you had this done Wed and this happened yesterday. Did you do a lot of driving than previous days?

W203E35

Although a little different since I did a full flush, when I drained my torque converter and put the pan back on and was pumping fluid. Fluid spilled through the breather and a lot. I started the car and let the TC suck the oil and then continued pumping. Maybe it was overfilled and after some hard driving pressure and fluid were released from there.

If it's a leak then it's very big, that's why I think it's that breather. These trannies go into limp mode right? If oil is low? (someone please confirm). Take it out for a spin and see. Maybe it was overfilled (who knows).

Since they didn't drop the pan or anything.

LILBENZ230

The pan was not dropped. It was a 3x drain, refill, drive, drain, etc. No cooler lines from the radiator were disconnected. There is fluid residue visible looking down into the engine bay at the transmission.

LILBENZ230

The car hadnt been driven much since the change and only gently. Merging onto the interstate on and uphill ramp with three people aboard was definitely the most demanding thing since getting it back after the fluid change.

W203E35

Awesome news, just have it checked out as planned on Monday. The more you post the more I feel it is the oil breather. Hope it indeed was that and all is good now.