Transmission fluid leak?
 

I had my water pump fail on me a week ago and finally have it replaced along with oil change and new plugs. Now I am trying to find the leak that mysteriously materialized after I limped the x home from the pump failure.

Attachment 60978

This a pic of the underside of the transmission. The circled part is where the leak appears to be coming from. I wiped it all down and put the plate back on and when I backed it out of the drive there was a significant drip from the pan already from just that short amount of driving.

It looks like regular oil though and not transmission fluid? I can't find a diagram for that part of the transmission anywhere to identify the part. Any ideas? I don't see any way the pump failure would be related to this. Just a coincidence? Vehicle has 106k miles.

Definately the leaking is from transmission mechatronic sleeve, just need to replace it. To do this you need to remove the transmission oil pan, make sure you get a new gasket for the pan or a new transmission pan that include the oil filter too. You need maybe 5 to 6 quarts of bmw transmission oil after you replaced them, or if yo want to flush the transmission you need maybe 10 quarts.

I did mine last month, my oil leak was not as heavy as yours but I did it anyway. Search or google you will find lots of references on how to do them. Good luck


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Check the black cylinder part on top the the pan...if any leak that mean mechatronic sleeve is leaking transmission oil

Thanks for the quick response. So how difficult was it to change? It doesn't look like the cover removal is too difficult but trying to get up to the connector looks a little tight. Trying to determine if it is worth the time to do but it can't be more of a pain than the damn water pump was!

Not difficult at all but must be patience when I got a quote from stealership they want to charge me 4hrs of labor just to replace the sleeve and top up oil and I spent about 5 including flushing...the only hard part was to push in the new sleeve because of the new o ring rubber is firm and thicker. The trick was using a ply bar slowly push it in......here are few links for your references

Sealing Sleeve or Mechatronic Unit Replacement Tips

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ic-sleeve.html

and you can buy repair kits from

The CTSC - ZF Parts

or

BMW Parts, Performance & Accessories | Turner Motorsport

I bought mine from tunermotorsport. Good luck:D

Just ordered the parts. They do recommend replacing the plug for plastic pans as well. So total parts, not counting fluid, was about $60 with shipping. Looks like the worst part will be draining and filling the oil.

Thanks for all the info and links. Hope to get it done this weekend along with the front brakes. Been an expensive month for maintenance!

Ok, got the x up on jack stands, drained the oil and removed most of the pan bolts. I will need to pick up a shorter torx bit/wrench to get the 3 over the frame. I did get the harness plug off also. It was pretty tight to pry off. I can see that being the tough point of the operation, having to be careful not to damage the pins on the socket. Parts should be here in a couple days.

Is there anyplace that has the torque specs for the pan bolts and the drain plug? They weren't in there very tight.

So did you loosen the fill plug bolt first because you want to make sure it can be filled before you drain.

kinda late reply, but be careful over torquing those.... Ive not done this on an X5 but other cars have very low specs, typically in the in-lb range. (ie 1/12 normal units)

Post up your results...

I did get the fill plug loosened so no worries about refilling...once I get the fluid in hand. The dealer wanted $20 a HALF liter! I drained close to 5 quarts out. No other place around me sells the recommended fluid so I had to order it. Should arrive in a couple days.

Parts went in relatively easy. I used a small block of wood and a pry bar to pop the new sleeve in place. I already tightened the bolts on the pan before I found the spec for 8nm torque. I am thinking of loosening and retightening again. Or should I leave them alone now that they have been tightened?

And who designed the pan so the 3 bolts in back were directly over the brace?! Getting those out was the hardest part of the job next to getting the plug lined up in the socket.