My son came home yesterday with transmission fluid (gear oil) leaking right where the transaxel and block mate together. I can't really see much other than reasonably clean gear lube dripping and puddling under the car. I did lift it up and have a look, but still could not tell. My guess is a seal.

Anyone here experience this or have some input?

Thanks in advance.

 

I would advise lifting the car, dumping the rest of the tranny fluid out and flushing it. Then check the seal and see if it looks ok. When was the last time the tranny was taken off the car? Has it been leaking for a long time or was the leak very sudden? Flushing the tranny should give you an indication of any internal problems (broken/chipped gears, etc). If it all comes out clean, just replace the seal and make sure you follow the bolt tightening sequence and proper torque specs when bolting the transmission back up.

I don't have any experience with this specific car, but I have access to the service manuals for most vehicles so if you need me to look up anything for you, let me know.

 

also maybe consider posting on a vw forum - much more vw knowledge there (many more idiots too however)

forums.vwvortex.com is great

 

where the transmission meets the engine block?

hmmm thats an odd one, only guess if its coming from the bellhousing itself would be an input shaft bearing.

if its from the transmission itself, then its cracked on the casing.

if its leaking from where the axle meets the transmission its either popped/popping out (if the car makes a horrible noise or doesnt move at all, this would be it), or its the output shaft seal. but i doubt it would cause it to leak that bad.

any other symptoms with the car?

 

you most likely lost a bolt from your ring and pinion. It will bounce around in the case until that magic hit that pushes it through the case, hence the leaking fluid. This was a huge problem on early 16v's and has been known to happen on mk4 as well, even though VW changed the design.

Im sure you have had it diagnosed and fixed by now, let us know what you found!!

 

Here's a pic of the damage. He had to buy a new (factory rebuilt) tranny.
$2100



Works great now

 

I used to own a highly modded 2000 GTi 1.8T, and the exact same thing happened to my car. Sorry but I don't remember what the problem turned out to be because I had many little problems with the car and I forgot all the details. This could be a common problem with the MKIV GTi, so you should definitely check on VWvortex.com.

If I remember the problem or find some of the receipts, I'll make sure to post the info. Good luck!

 

Yep!! looks like the r/p failure i described.

 

Ouch.

I posted before I saw that picture, but I can tell you that was definitely not what happened to my car. Sorry to hear that he had to go through the trouble of getting a new transmission and dish out $2,100. Glad to hear the problem is sorted out though and I hope the new tranny holds up!