Transmission Leak - Not the axle seal

Hi everyone,

New to this forum and so thankful for the wealth of knowledge here. I searched and read through hours of posts last night and was not able to find anything that related, so thought I would start a new post.

I have a 2008 Prius with 137K miles, not a thing wrong with it other than the transmission just started to leak. It is coming from the very common spot near the drivers side front tire...however it is not the transaxle seal. That was replaced in February and my mechanic just looked it over and confirmed it was not coming from there. He said "I wish it was the seal, but unfortunately this leak is coming from the top of the transmission, towards the rear end almost near the pan."

He said there is no way to know exactly what is leaking without taking it out, which is obviously expensive.

But wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experience with a leak like this.

Also wondering if there are any thoughts to just swapping out a salvaged trans if they have to take it out anyway, to inspect where the leak is coming from (found a 80K salvaged one for $400 with limited warranty).

To recap:

• Confirmed that this is trans fluid and not coolant
  
• Not a transaxle seal leak
• Leak is coming from top rear side of the trans, near the "pan" (which I am not too sure what he means...there is no trans fluid pan on the 2008).

Thanks in advance for any help! I appreciate this site and everyone's contributions.

 

Great idea, please excuse this terrible quality here. I couldn't tell what I the camera was pointed at.

I am going to try again tomorrow with two phones, see if I can set one up as a remote camera and other one as the monitor, so I can see what the heck I am pointing it at.

I tried to follow the leak trail up to the top of what I think is the transmission.

 

I took it to a new mechanic to get a second opinion and it the leak is coming from the top of the case. Either the top back of the transaxle case or a shift control actuator. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing for sure until they get in there and remove everything. He isn't willing to do it, and I could not find an independent shop that is willing...all reccommended I bring it to a Dealer, which is going to make this a real expensive project with their labor rates. Might be time to trade it in...which seems like such a shame. It has less than 140K miles, but at this point the repair estimates are anywhere from $1100 to $3000, from the dealer.

 

Thank you, this is helpful! I appreciate it.

Just came back from the Toyota dealer today and they said $4,700 for a new transmission....so yeah, not going to to that. They didn't even want to entertain the idea of replacing a seal or cover. Just siad "nope, transmission is shot...you need a new one." This car drives fine and so far nothing is slipping.

I have been putting cardboard under it every time I get home and it seems to have a few drops after sitting warm. Like the amount of 3-4 eye drops.

It does seem to do it more when it is really warm and humid. Some days nothing at all.

As long as I keep fluid in it, I should be ok until it really starts steadily flowing out...no? We really only use this car to run around town and commute to work (10 miles each way).

It is a bit of a chore to jack up the car enough to get under there (and level it) to check the fluid level, but worth it at $4,700 quote. If anyone has any tips or trips on how to make it easier, please let me know. It would be nice to add on some sort of dipstick that came up to the engine!

Thanks again for the advice.

 

Sorry about that, I meant the left axle seal was replaced. Drivers side. It is also common to see a drip come form there, because of this. I have ready many posts that have a leak in this same area.

 

To further clarify, when the drivers side axle seal is shot, it is somewhat common and that would then have the leak in this same spot. Sorry, I realize this was poorly described in my orginal post.

Thank you for all the input, I do appreciate it!

I think edthefox5 has a really smart idea, to check the transaxle breather plug. It could be overfull and coming out of there, which is about where this leak is coming from. I also think it is possible for that breather to get gunked up over the years and not allow the pressure to be regulated properly, so maybe that could be a cause of it leaking from there too...too much pressure from a being gunked up. Either way, this is a great lead and I will report back what I find.

The only issue I may run into is this breather is located under the inverter, which can be a little intimidating to remove.

 

Just checked it after jacking up and leveling on stands. It is full! This leak is a few drops after running each time, over the last 3 weeks (as far as I can tell). I did find a Hybrid specialist in Vermont, that is not a dealer, and dropping it off with them to just have one last look before I officially just start ignoring it and carry on with my life

This mechanic was super helpful over the phone and braced me for the worst. If by some chance it does need a new transaxle/transmission, he has several salvaged ones and can install for well below half of what the dealer quoted.

Either way, I will report back what they find. Thanks for all your help.

 

No update yet from the hybrid specialist I am taking this to, still waiting for a good time to send it in (it’s about 2 hours away from me). However I was able to lift up the whole front end over the weekend and cleaned it up a bit. Here is a photo of where I believe it is leaking from. It looks like a black plastic cover over something on the upper back end (towards the driverside) of the transaxle. I cannot find out what part of the transaxle this is. If anyone has a good diagram with key parts identified, I’d appreciate it.