Not me in video. Interesting though. I can see the bead of adhesive on the mating surfaces and it appears to be completely dry. The fluid appears to be only on or from the bolts. I don't have a torx socket that fits the type of bolt. Took it to the dealer just to do like the guy in the video and do a tightening on the bolts.
Toyota has a bunch of engines impacted by swarf left in the engines after machining. Hyundai has the same issue on many models. Results in premature bearing failure. So I do not think Toyota is the poster child for quality and reliability like they used to be.
Meh
Just got word from the Ford dealer that the leak is from the seam between the two halves of the transmission. They tried resealing the bolts, but that made no change. They got word to lower the engine and transmission from the vehicle, split the two half's, clean and reseal the two half's and put the engine and trans back in to the Maverick. I am being told probably a week to get this completed......
Seems strange that they would not replace the tranny which of course is an expensive component. Typically, on those kinds of mating surfaces without a gasket, the silicone is applied by robot so the bead is very precise from the factory. The mating surface itself is normally also very precisely machined so that not much silicone is needed. The bead applied from the factory is quite thin but very precisely routed around screw holes. I would be concerned that the Ford guys in the dealership service department would never be able to duplicate that.
I get it. The service department will get some black RTV silicone and make a big schmear all the way around the housing mating surface. It won't be beautiful. It may or may not seal, which is the issue. It is also easy to cause damage to the mating surface when they separate the 2 halves. When I do that myself, I use plastic tools. Some will use screwdrivers and other metallic tools which can easily score the surfaces. The fact that this is being done by a dealer does not make it a slam dunk.They'll just use more goober. More is always better!
Ok you have convinced me to do the same, next engine oil change...After reading about 4WD PTU units being underfilled from the factory, I decided to go ahead and change the fluid in the eCVT yesterday. I have 14,000 troublefree miles and was doing my third oil change at the same time while I had the splash shield off. I found a couple of things I was not expecting.
The 14 mm drain plug for the eCVT was a lot looser than I was expecting. It wasn't finger tight, but took very little effort to turn with my wrench. It does have fine threads going into an aluminum housing so I was careful not to overtighten when I replaced it.
I drained about 3 quarts of fluid (shown in the 1 gallon jug photo) and refilled with 4 quarts before it started to run out the fill plug hole. I believe it was slightly underfilled at the factory. Probably not enought to damage anything but still a little underfilled.
The fluid was darker than I thought it would be, but didn't smell burnt or unusual. There were a few metallic flecks in the pan, but I expected that.
Overall the job was about as easy as doing an oil change, especially with the splash shield already removed. And the peace of mind is worth a little to me since I plan to keep the truck long term. I plan to wait another 30K and do the drain/fill again.
Has anyone found a magnetic drain plug for the eCVT tranny? Recommendations?
