Recently noticed a rather sizable oil stain in the driveway. Dropped the splash pan and in the pan bottom appears to be 4-6 tablespoons of a reddish liquid. P/S level is good. No codes or missed shifts but I got underneath it and checked down both sides as well as the front....can't see where it's coming from, will check trans oil cooler lines. Transmission pan is clean and dry. Very slight leak from oil pan gasket. My three questions are- when the transmission sleeve o-ring seal fails where do you typically notice the fluid escaping from? Also if it were my IMT o-rings it shouldn't have the reddish tint, right? Finally, does the seal at the front of the trans which mates to the engine fail often? It has 42k and has been reflashed (J004) but pretty sure it's original fluid. Leaving the pan off and will park over some cardboard but sure would appreciate input.

 

Are you sure its reddish and not orangish. My guess its anti-freeze. The tranny oil is light gold and motor oil is goldish (or atleast should be). I haven't read anyone having power steering issues. IMT Orings you would smell a burnt oil in the cabin of vehicle. To check IMTs wipe a clean white paper towel on the backside of the intake manifold, if its got oil on it, guess what...... As far as the front transmission seal those do not tend to fail (atleast) not as of yet. The rear tranny seal is becoming somewhat of an issue ie..."transmission extension housing seal".

When the electric rubber sleeve fails the ATF will not land on the belly pan it will land on the driveway. The sleeve is located 2/3 back on the tranny passenger side (US). Have a look in the FAQ section for ccc's thread, it has very detailed pictures!

 

So when the sleeve o-ring fails it leaks right at that plastic plug. Which makes sense and is what I thought but that area is clean as can be. It looks dark red and oily like P/S fluid but that still seems full. Coolant level looks good. Pulled the splash pan 3 months ago when I changed the oil and there was a very slight stain from my slowly leaking oil pan, or at least I thought. But this is more substantial and yet I'm not sure from where. Interesting that the A/T fluid is more golden than red. I'll try to get a better location now that the splash pan has been removed plus the drip/leak should be isolated for better identification. Initially thought the oil pan gasket had worsened but now not sure.

 

Feel it (rub between finger & thumb). P/S oil is, er, wait for it, oily but the coolant isn't. 99% likely to be coolant as there are common faults (often posted here) with quite cheap fixes.

Unless someone's changed the tranny fluid with a different oil (unlikely), it's not red at all.

 

OK, big question since I've had "both" that I'm going to guess it is.. What side was the oil puddle on? Was it on the drivers side or passenger side....
(BTW, coolant will feel oily with the additives that they put in it..more on that later)

Drivers Side / toward the front: Probably power steering line... Look at the bottom of the power steering reservoir. You may see oily dirt where the belts fling oil up on stuff... When mine started leaking it was only a loose clamp. The dealer checked the lines and tightened it up..

Passenger Side: Dual Climate Control Valve... I initially found a drip of fluid on the garage floor (that had run out of the belly pan)... I freaked at first because it looked and felt like typical red transmission fluid...Then dug deeper and it was the DCCV that had started to leak....

Check it over and hope this helps....

 

The mystery lives on. Parked it last night over a clean sheet of 1/4" particle board and nothing not a drop. Would begin to wonder if it were not another of my cars if not for the residue in the splash pan. Noticed that the coolant IS more reddish than even orange in color so that lends itself to at least some of it probably was coolant that either burped or leaked out from somewhere. DCCV and coolant reservoir and most radiator hoses are new. Drove it 30 miles today no codes or problems noted, fluid levels look good. What is most perplexing is the fact that I have three to four oil spots at least the size of a silver dollar on the ground which don't appear reddish and which water beads up on. Yet parked overnight not one drop on the ground? The red residue was in the splash pan. I still feel the spots are partially from a slightly leaking oil pan gasket but something else as at play here, not sure what. Checking your suggestions but this ones got me stumped. One question though, to reach the back of the manifold for the white rag wipe (IMT) must I remove the cowling? I came up clean but not sure if I'm reaching far enough. Further investigation/information, the spots on the groung feel like motor oil and I went back to the splash pan and felt it again and it seams like mostly oil with a dash of coolant. The leak appears to be slightly moreso on the passenger (US) side. So now I'm thinking oil pan gasket or IMT but who knows. Will try again tonight.

 

Put a drop on your tongue; if it tastes sweet, it's antifreeze.

Are the coolant lines from the rad to tranny clean and dry?
Much has been written about these lines on the forum. The
color does range from dark brown to black depending on the
age of the fluid.

Cliff

 

No need to remove the cowl to deterimine if your IMT O-rings are leaking. Right side (pax side, US) back of the manifold just above the exhaust manifold. Pic maybe helps some, but this is removed from the car and upside down. The IMT Valves are the two black edifices at the lower left with electrical connectors molded on them. You can see this one was definitely leaking.

Despite all those words and posting a pic, I really doubt it's your issue. Both my 03 and 05 had IMT leaks. Neither ever made a spot on the belly pan nor on the floor. Both exhibited strong burnt-oil smell in the cabin (despite activated charcoal cabin air filters) at idle. Doesn't really sound like what you are dealing with.

 

Simple check out this link

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=49214

 

Thanks for the tips and photos. No burnt oil smell...watching carefully underneath. Other than oil pan and filter are there other common places underneath wear oil is known to leak. My theory now is the pan gasket which is leaking slightly. When I get under it I take a rag and flashlight. I notice oil in several places pretty much all around the engine bottom. I wipe it down which probably explains the no drip on the first night and once the splash pan is on the concentrated, centralized, bigger drip. I know Rick has an excellent thread on the gasket replacement just not sure if I want to try to tackle that with my limited tools (my floor jack just blew a seal, and due to liability there's no kit to fix it, bummer). Dealer wants $800 but found a shop that'll do it for $300. Just want to make certain the gasket is my main problem.

 

Dirk another problem area is the valve cover seals (gaskets) I had to replace my passenger side. Along with my oil pan seal (gasket). There is talk that valve cover seals (gaskets) don't go bad in post face lift 3.0s, mine did.

On Friday Feb. 4th, I am doing another members oil pan seal (gasket), I have been asked to "document" the procedure with pics, I am planning on it.

The below pictures is what my drips looked like without the belly pan on vehicle and sitting overnight. My passenger side oil pan seal was where the leaks were.

 

Rick, Thank you, I know you've done your own and I'll look forward to any other tips you provide after the 4th. Isn't the gasket a combo of aluminum and rubber? I see on Jtis many dots of silicone instead of a steady bead I wonder why. When your valve cover leaked did you need to pull off the plastic engine cover to see that? Also when it leaked did you get a smell from oil landing on the exhaust? Thanks again.

 

The oil pan gasket is the combo of aluminum and rubber (about a 1/8" thick) and yes it does collapse when torqueing. I believe I put only a couple of daps of silicone where there are mating engine parts, ie.. block to front cover etc.. I will double check, and get back to you on friday.

The valve cover gaskets are the silicone type. I did not have to remove the plastic cover as it is on drivers side (US) and I could see the leak on the passenger side. Yes there was definetly a smell of burning oil inside the cabin, both from the valve cover failure and the IMT O-ring leak.

 

You had the trifecta and all at once, V/C-IMT-Oil pan gasket, how lucky. Do you attribute the drops in the photo from both, pan and V/C gasket?