Hey everyone,

So it looks like im drippin tranny/diff fluid and its definitely red with a nasty smell and not oil. It looks like the leak is coming from the drain plug? Just curious from those who've had similar issues able to shed any light?

the actual drip to the floor is coming right from the drain plug of the front diff







thanks for all your help!

- Gunnah

 

Looks like a pinion seal leak. But red??? IDK Smelly would indicate gear oil though.

There's power steering stuff above that differential that might have red fluid.

Is the diff oil low?? What color does that have on your finger?

 

First step, wash it all off with degreaser and drive it around town and see if you can get a better idea where the leak is coming from.

ATF is used in the power steering (as mentioned above), the automatic transmission, and the transfer case attached to the A340H. To my knowledge (which is limited) they do not use it anywhere else. Check your PS, tcase, and Trans fluid, is it low? It could be mixing with leaking engine oil from valve covers etc giving you the burnt smell.

not sure if this helps:

 

Will do! Thank you both for the replies. I do know my power steering is leaking and but didn't think it would leak from what looked like that drain plug of the front diff. Do you know how to determine between the ATF in power steering and the toyota gear oil for the Diff?

@COMTB

 

Diff gear oils are 75/90 and has the appearance of a little darker new motor oil. ATF is red and a little thinner, significantly different viscosity.

What you're seeing is the oil dripping to lowest point, the drain plug. That fluid could be dripping on top of the bell-housing and dripping down or something similar. That's why I usually try to degrease and clean everything then drive it for a bit and see if I can pinpoint the leak better.

With that being said, if you check your fluid levels you might find one extremely low which would be the first place I would look for leaks If there's no dipstick, open the fill plug and stick a finger in, if you can't touch the fluid it's low. Fill it back up, see if it goes down again etc. Can be time consuming but doing methodical testing has allowed me to quickly identify issues in the past.

 

I agree with Comtb, but I would also add that in order to fix fluid leaks of any kind you need to work from the top down and front to back, fix a valve cover leak before you assume the oil pan is leaking, fix a power steering leak before condemning the tranny pan etc.
the upper most leaks are easily identifiable and after fixing it and cleaning everything the next leak will be evident. You can also bank on a leak being from whichever system keeps running low on fluid.
Unless you want to rip everything out and do a complete reseal, (which is sometimes the best option if it looks like the Exxon Valdez)
If you have a power steering leak from the pump fix that first and clean everything to check the rest. It is likely that the differential drain plug is only wet because the power steering fluid leaking to that low point is being blown around by the wind when you drive.

 

@akwheeler
@COMTB

Thank again guys for the responses, I will definitely be changing out the powersteering pump over the weekend and cleaning around. Will let you guys know and thanks for the advice!

-Gunnah