Transmission fluid leak and leaking CV boots

[NoVaJimmy]

I wrote in another thread that I had a leaky CV boot and that when investigating I found transmission fluid on the driver's side half shaft and lower control arm. Yesterday I took the wheel and engine splash shields off and it appears that the trans fluid is coming out of the breather tube on top of the transmission. I expected it to be coming from an axle shaft seal since I had that issue on my Escape but I kept tracing the fluid higher and it led me back to the breather on top of the transmission near the battery. I cleaned everything down since I read that some transmissions were overfilled from the factory but it's still concerning to me considering that I have over 9k miles on my Maverick now and in the last 9 months I've already performed 3 oil changes on it and never had any transmission fluid anywhere. I also replaced the battery a few months ago with an AGM unit and didn't see any trans fluid at all in that area so the breather leak is a recent development. Just trying to figure out why it would have gone all this time before spitting fluid out the breather if it was in fact overfilled. You'd think if it was overfilled I would have seen fluid much sooner or at the very least when I replaced the battery. Anyone else gone through this? Did you clean everything down and then not had any more fluid come out of the breather?

As for the CV Boots, the driver's side boot is definitely leaking on the inner CV joint but I decided to check the passenger side and the pass side inner boot is leaking too, apparently they are either not clamping the crimp style hooking clamps enough from the factory or they are just trash. I'm planning on replacing them with the fold over tension style boot clamps and I'll keep monitoring the trans fluid issue and breather. I was going to bring it to the dealer but I dislike having other people work on my vehicles and would rather just repair this simple issue on my own.

FWIW my Maverick is stock with the exception of some BS 18" wheels and Michelin Defender tires. I was going to put the RC 2" strut lift on my Maverick but I'm reconsidering given these two issues, I want to at least give it some time to see if the new CV boot clamps hold better and if the trans fluid out of the breather was a one time thing.

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[Shay]

Sounds like a visit to the dealer is in order and let them handle it under warranty.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

Sounds like a visit to the dealer is in order and let them handle it under warranty.

No thanks.......the CV boot clamps are an easy fix and I'd rather do it myself to know it's done right especially for $5 worth of clamps. The trans fluid definitely came from the breather tube so I'll monitor it before bringing it to the dealer. This is my third Ford, service is not exactly a bright spot for the brand.....also going to guess you didn't even bother reading everything I wrote

 

[Zolutar]

Vehicle is under warrenty, I get it you dont want Ford to work on it, but it would be on their dime and stand behind the work.
BUT: If you do the work, then decide to take it to Ford down the road, they can do the ol' "this isnt factory, you modified the car and thus nullifies the warrenty" crap.

Its your truck to do as you see fit, but if its warrenty, and I were in your shoes, they'd be fixing it and they're on the hook for it, if it doesnt solve it at their expense.


Anyway, hope you get it resolved one way or another. Good luck!

 

[thevol]

If you are wanting to check the level, this appears to be the procedure, sounds pretty simple.

https://f01.justanswer.com/apjp02/515731ff-8b57-4a5f-9686-2363806bc489_1.pdf

 

[NoVaJimmy]

Vehicle is under warrenty, I get it you dont want Ford to work on it, but it would be on their dime and stand behind the work.
BUT: If you do the work, then decide to take it to Ford down the road, they can do the ol' "this isnt factory, you modified the car and thus nullifies the warrenty" crap.

Its your truck to do as you see fit, but if its warrenty, and I were in your shoes, they'd be fixing it and they're on the hook for it, if it doesnt solve it at their expense.


Anyway, hope you get it resolved one way or another. Good luck!

Come on now, they can't nullify a warranty because of CV boot clamps. Let's say my CV joint failed they would have to prove that it was the result of those clamps. If I do it myself I know it's done right, with a good product and I won't have to worry about it again. Trust me, if I had a major failure it'd be going to Ford for repair (unfortunately) but for $5 worth of CV boot clamps, I'll do the work myself and not risk:

-Tech scratching my paint
-Tech braking a wheel speed sensor
-Using the same inferior boot clamps and improperly installing them just like the factory did
-Tech taking truck out for a joyride to get burritos
-Tech breaking something and not saying anything

I worked on cars for a few years after high school while putting myself through college. The amount of carelessness and incompetence I witnessed scarred me for life. Most just care about cramming as many flat rate hours into their paycheck that they can. Of the 14 bays we had in the Jeep shop I worked in we had 1 guy who actually and honestly cared about the work he did.

 

[ireneejuddy]

Come on now, they can't nullify a warranty because of CV boot clamps. Let's say my CV joint failed they would have to prove that it was the result of those clamps. If I do it myself I know it's done right, with a good product and I won't have to worry about it again. Trust me, if I had a major failure it'd be going to Ford for repair (unfortunately) but for $5 worth of CV boot clamps, I'll do the work myself and not risk:

-Tech scratching my paint
-Tech braking a wheel speed sensor
-Using the same inferior boot clamps and improperly installing them just like the factory did
-Tech taking truck out for a joyride to get burritos
-Tech breaking something and not saying anything

I worked on cars for a few years after high school while putting myself through college. The amount of carelessness and incompetence I witnessed scarred me for life. Most just care about cramming as many flat rate hours into their paycheck that they can. Of the 14 bays we had in the Jeep shop I worked in we had 1 guy who actually and honestly cared about the work he did.

I understand you so perfectly, every time I take the car in for service - or something stays dirty, or they didn't do exactly what I wanted, seriously, I'm starting to repair car independent soon. Besides that I must say that I am still a college student and use this source check here because it helps me a lot with my writing and I have to tell you that it has already helped me several times to solve a bigger problem, I think it is social issues, for this one they should write a letter to the board and quite possibly they will review it, because it will be very well written and they will pass a law that will not allow the servicemen to abuse and steal our own money through unethical repairs.

 

[sanpablo]

"This is my third Ford, service is not exactly a bright spot for the brand"

I agree with you about Ford service. I try and do as much of my own maintenance as I can. Of course any big problem under warranty will be brought in.
Also, I'm going to do my first oil change at 2500 miles simply to inspect everything else while the bottom cover is off. I'm doing the oil change early because when I did my first oil change on my 2016 Honda HRV after having all the oil changes done at the dealer in the first 3 years while it was in warranty there were some metal particles in the oil. Not a lot but it kind of freaked me out. No problems with the HRV but still worried me at the time. I am also thinking of checking the transmission fluid level at the same time just to be sure it is correct. I really hate sealed transmissions. What is so difficult about giving us a dip stick?!!! Ok, rant over

 

[MavChris]

If you are wanting to check the level, this appears to be the procedure, sounds pretty simple.

https://f01.justanswer.com/apjp02/515731ff-8b57-4a5f-9686-2363806bc489_1.pdf

Looking through the document posted and assuming that the transmission in my 2023 Mav is the same exact one in a 2019 Edge? I'd think that the procedure would be a little different also. Nice to know that there is a way to check the level in a sealed transmission.

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