Hey guys, I'm a fellow Toyota-er, currently driving a 1993 Mr2(Gt). Got alot of love for the Brand.

Now, my girlfriend drives a 2011 Scion tC, cement in color-about 50xxx miles. About 2 months ago, she got into a little accident where she ran into the car in front of her (typical). No serious damage, cracked part of the front bumper.

About two months ago, when I wasn't available - she took the car to the oil change joint down the street, and they told her that she was leaking transmission fluid. After setting multiple cardboard boxes under the car at night, I have yet to find anything.

Either way, we have a 2 hour drive to take on tomorrow, and I want to ensure that the transmission will be safe. After doing plenty of research, I found that there is no transmission fluid dipstick. So I'm guessing the only thing I can do is just pop the fill plug and try not to overflow it.

That being said, does anyone have any write-ups, or any pictures of the fill plug spot? I also read that the tC uses the special AWS transmission fluid (?) or would some Mobil1 or Royal Purple work? Also do you guys have any corrections, tips, or advice you can give me? I would appreciate it, because it's starting to drive me a little crazy. Transmission hasn't had any hiccups, except sometimes I think the jerk from 1st to 2nd is a little jumpy, but I honestly think it's in my head.

Thank you guys in advanced!

Joey

 

The mechanic might have noticed when he was down by the oil filter. You can have a leak, but it won't leak to the ground. Check the entire area and hoses for red fluid. That will tell you. If she bumped someone, your radiator probably got moved a bit which moved some coolant lines, so you might have ripped a hose at the connection part or something. Who knows. You really need to get under there and look though. There's not a whole lot we can do right now for you.

And don't add more fluid. Transmissions do not like to be overfilled at all.

If you can't find something, go back to that no talent joint and have that guy show you where it was leaking. Not sure why or how communicative your girlfriend is and how long it took her to tell you what the guy said, but she should have told you right away, in which case you would have told her to go back and find out more since all she heard when the guy was telling her what was wrong was, "Blah blah blah, you smell, you're gross, I know nothing about cars, I don't car, I'll have Joey look at it, $$$, f.ck me".

Sound about right?

 

Hahaha! Something like that. I'm going to jack her up in a little bit. Is there a sensor or anything for transmission fluid? I'm hoping it would say something. I believe the coolant in the car is still orangish, should the transmission fluid be the same color?

Now just awaiting her to get off so the car will be here.

I'll be frequently checking, and thanks for the quick response.

 

Alright cool. But yeah, the coolant will not be the same color as the transmission fluid. Your "ATF" (automatic transmission fluid) will be red. Like, red red. Coolant comes in all kinds of colors. That stuff doesn't matter. Report back, let us know. Keep this thread alive brother.

 

Thanks man!! In about an hour I'm going to jack it up and peep. I'll probably be pretty active with questions and pictures, will you be pretty close by?

 

Well fellas. Just waiting for the engine to cool down a little before I go touching stuff.

Here's one thing I did find though

This is a picture of the coolant reservoir, and it appears to be bright red



I put the orange windshield wiper fluid just to create a contrast between the hues.

Maybe what the guy saw was indeed coolant coming from under the hoses? I'll know shortly.

 

Alright, another little update. Jacked up the car, and noticed there was a almost brown fluid on the bottom of the transmission - it almost looked like oil I wiped it up with a shirt and it looked kind of reddish brown. Checked oil, and it's on the money. It almost seemed that the fluid was leaking at the rear main seal. Wiped it up, and going to check back in an hour or so to see if anything else leaked out. If all else fails, should I just do a tranny flush tonight? I am making that two hour drive tomorrow.

Thanks guys

 

Well guys here's what we got it looks like. Right where the transmission meets the engine, so I'm guessing it's the rear main seal. It's oil it seems. In the picture you can see the drop , that was after letting it sit for about an hour. Going to try and contact warranty company and see what's going on. Any suggestions?

 

Yeah, I dipped out yesterday, sorry man. But yeah, coolant is pink, not to be confused with red trans fluid. Remember, I said RED RED, not "mehhh red...". It's RED RED, and after 50,000 miles it would be brownish red. A flush will do you no good. There's no reason to flush it. Nothing happened except a super super slow leak. So the mechanic might have thought it was transmission because it's where they meet? I don't know. I see the drop and it looks pretty dark, but so does everything wet substance on dark metal. So wipe it up with a white towel and then take a picture. If it has any red qualities, then it's transmission. If it's only brown qualities, then it's oil. Take it to the dealership obviously and don't tell them anything about the wreck.

 

In many cases if the an automatic transmission does not have a dipstick, you fill the trans sump pan with fluid until it pours out of the fill hole just like in a manual case.