Saw a dripping trail of fluid when I pulled the car out. After I realize it wasn't the AC drain water, it was an oily fluid. Pulled it onto my lift and found the general area where it is coming from.

There are 3 lines on the side of the transaxle, that run towards the top of the transmission. Looks like these are the hydraulic lines going to the actuator that controls the shifting and or clutch.

This is a picture of the 3 lines I am talking about:


The leak appears to be coming from the middle line/connection and dripping down from what I can see. The top connection seems dry. Anyways does anyone know if the lines have an o-ring or some type of seal that I can change? or would I need new lines? I will probably try to disconnect the lines to see what it looks like there but it would be helpful if anyone has dealt with this before.

Also if I remove the line and most of the fluid drips out, it sounds like there is a clutch bleed procedure that needs to be done.
Can anyone recommend a scan tool/app that is not AMDS that can do this procedure? Ready to invest in one now.

Pray for me that I won't need to drop the transaxle to fix this leak.
BTW I'd rather drop the transaxle, replace the clutch and everything needed myself than take it to the dealer/shop, so please don't suggest that.

 

I just had my clutch replaced and asked to have the hoses replaced at the same time.

Wasn't expecting them to be so worn, but see pic.

Total for the hoses was just under $500.

 

i would tighten clamps and hope for the best before doing anything else.

 

I just finished working on this unit in my car. The 3 hoses you have circled have a little cotter type clip holding them into the actuators. You pull that clip and the hoses can be pulled out. They have a green o-ring on each end which hopefully is your only issue. The lines themselves seem pretty strong so not likely that they are leaking. It is possible to do this without removing the transmission from the vehicle. If you remove the mounts and drop the exhaust, you can lower the transmission enough to be able to reach way up there.
I attached some pics that will hopefully help you

also as far as the other two hoses (the rubber ones that connect to the reservoir) they are terrible quality and tightening the clamps on them won’t help since they crack from all over the line and when that happen, you will lose your fluid and the car will not drive well, if at all.

I’ve had both go out.
Even Aston Martin sells “upgraded” hoses to replace their original low quality lines

 

That is awesome information. Thank you very much.

Definitely will try replacing those o-rings first. My hoses from the fluid reservoir don't look great but they are not where the leaks are coming from. I do plan to replace those when I'm in there.

The only other thing to figure out is the clutch bleed and what scan tool or app I would need once I finish the job and refill the fluid.

 

Hi the Foxwell NT530 scanner with aston martin sw does have ASM clutch bleed feature.
Youtube/Bamford Rose mention a repeated shifting through the gears (for ASM, 1-N-1) will bleed the air out of line.

Cheers

 

I have the foxwell nt644 and mine does nothing have the bleed procedure on it.
but I can confirm that what worked for me was to put the car in accessory mode and paddle between 1-n-r
i did this multiple times until the “grinding” sounds got less and less noticeable. And they finally went away completely and car sounds and feels perfect now. I actually had an appointment at a local shop that has the amds software but ended up cancelling it.
Also, I did the procedure with the car on Jack’s so I could continue adding fluid into the reservoir as the system bled itself. You could see that bubbles were coming out because the fluid in the reservoir was bubbly. Eventually all the bubbles were gone and car works perfectly!
my cousin actually walked me through the process since the actuator is identical to the one in his bmw m3. I even noticed that the electrical plugs that connect to the actuator have bmw stamped on them.

 

Awesome info! Thanks guys.

 

I changed the orings and it is still leaking. Seems like it might be the lines itself but it's hard to tell. Any suggestions before I order all 3 lines and lower the trans?

 

Those are high pressure lines, the LP return hose above is the most likely culprit, small cracked spots "spray" fluid any direction and makes it hard to trace the source. Replacement of the LP return to the reservoir and the reservoir to the pump.

 

Thank you, I will take another look.

I don't think I was able to see the LP return hose where it goes up towards the top of the trans, if it's leaking it's likely where I can't see.

 

Doesn't Redpants have a hose kit?

 

For the LP hoses yes. Not for the HP lines.

 

The crimp looks similar to Lotus Elise oil cooler line that was recalled. The fitting has a rather weak retention barb, more like a rib, that slipped out.

 

The low pressure lines are very common failure items, the high pressure ones less so. If anyone needs them we have 6 & 7 speed versions in stock from DAE:

https://www.velocityap.com/product/a.../?currency=USD