I've been getting some spots under the front of the car. I noticed them for about a month, but probably been going on since I started parking the front end down hill instead of up hill. Put out the drip tray and it's fresh red Mercon V.

I wiped the fresh stuff off the bell housing portion of the trans body, pulled the access plug for the TC drain plug and cleaned off everything I could. From the looks of the parking spot, I'm getting a new drip every day.

Today, I slid the drip tray under for anything fresh. Got a couple of drops after several hours, so I put the car up in the air for a better look. Same drip pattern, with some oily accumulation on the trans pan, probably from blowing back just while driving.

The only real leak appears to be on the bell housing/access plug area. My thoughts were I didn't get the TC plug fully tight last fluid change. I rolled the motor over to show the plug and couldn't feel any oil on the TC. The plug is clean, tight, and dry. The inside of the bell housing seems clean and dry from wiping what I can get to with a clean rag.

I cranked the car up and let it run for about 10 minutes. After another hour of sitting on the jack stands, the only leak I could see was some condensation from the muffler drain holes.

This is all with the car sitting level on jackstands, not front end down. I lowered the front like it was on the ground and ran it for another 10 minutes. After sitting for 1/2 hour, still no sign of fresh fluid.

Since the TC and plug were and are dry and I can't find any fresh wet stuff anywhere else, I'm all out of ideas. Seems like if there was some seal up front leaking, there would be some inside the bell housing. Any ideas?

It is likely the pump/front seal.

For me, with 320,000 miles on mine, and no real issues, I just put a pan under it. I couldn't justify the work required to replace it, and it sorta was one of the issues, when added to all the others, that made me dump the car.

It wasn't consistent in how much it would leak or how often, but in a week I would get a quarter sized spot usually. I kept cut up sections of cardboard in the trunk if I was going to be parked someplace else for more than a few hours (like visiting family).

It's not enough of a leak to even be measured on the dipstick after 7 months and 3K miles.

The only thing that has me fooled is that there doesn't look to be much if any fluid on the inside of the bell housing section. But I know it has to be coming from somewhere.

If it wasn't such a PITA to get a look at the underside of the car. I usually don't get all the jacks and stuff out until I'm due a tire rotation.

If I have to do something about it, I'll use a friend's 2 post lift. Just have to drive across town and over to the next county for that. Thanks for the advice.

My plan is for me and the car to give up this driving thing at the same time. I figure I'll have to keep it on the road for about another 10 years for that.

Add 2 bottles of LubeGard Red, which contains esters. If it's a seal issue, it will help.