I posted on another forum as well, hoping I’ll maybe get someone to chime in with some actual constructive feedback other then snide comments.
So I need some help and advice. I have a 2020 1500 Built to Serve edition Bighorn, 5.7 with just over 71,000 on the odometer. Last week I was towing my subcompact tractor to my dad’s house, and noticed when I got there that my tailgate looked like it was splashed with water though it was a dry day and I didn’t drive through any standing water. Checked it out closer and realized it was somewhat oily in consistency. I looked underneath and noticed a good bit of the undercarriage looked wet, but saw nothing dripping and didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. I drove the short drive back to my house and got underneath to find that the transmission heater on the drivers side was very wet, then to notice that one of the bolts holding the 2 main pieces was sticking about a half inch or more out, and the other one was loose as well. So first thing I need to figure out by where it is coming from is if its tranny fluid that leaked out, which I am leaning towards, or coolant, which when I checked once cooled is actually very low. My next question is should I try to self diagnose/repair being pretty handy working on cars, or take it to the dealer knowing I’m past the Powertrain warranty mileage and doubt that they will help me out at all since apparently things were not torqued right that the bolts worked out so easily. Have not done any heavy towing and mostly highway mileage. Included pics of the area and where I noticed the leaking. Blue is the loose bolts, yellow is where I noticed the most leaking between the two components.
Also I know it should be easy to determine which fluid is leaking, I believe its trans oil, the fact that my coolant is so low has me questioning whether that too was leaking or worse yet finding its way in to the transmission and therefore mixing with the trans oil as well. Perhaps someone has a better understanding of the way the fluids flow through the trans heater to be of some help.
So I need some help and advice. I have a 2020 1500 Built to Serve edition Bighorn, 5.7 with just over 71,000 on the odometer. Last week I was towing my subcompact tractor to my dad’s house, and noticed when I got there that my tailgate looked like it was splashed with water though it was a dry day and I didn’t drive through any standing water. Checked it out closer and realized it was somewhat oily in consistency. I looked underneath and noticed a good bit of the undercarriage looked wet, but saw nothing dripping and didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. I drove the short drive back to my house and got underneath to find that the transmission heater on the drivers side was very wet, then to notice that one of the bolts holding the 2 main pieces was sticking about a half inch or more out, and the other one was loose as well. So first thing I need to figure out by where it is coming from is if its tranny fluid that leaked out, which I am leaning towards, or coolant, which when I checked once cooled is actually very low. My next question is should I try to self diagnose/repair being pretty handy working on cars, or take it to the dealer knowing I’m past the Powertrain warranty mileage and doubt that they will help me out at all since apparently things were not torqued right that the bolts worked out so easily. Have not done any heavy towing and mostly highway mileage. Included pics of the area and where I noticed the leaking. Blue is the loose bolts, yellow is where I noticed the most leaking between the two components.
Also I know it should be easy to determine which fluid is leaking, I believe its trans oil, the fact that my coolant is so low has me questioning whether that too was leaking or worse yet finding its way in to the transmission and therefore mixing with the trans oil as well. Perhaps someone has a better understanding of the way the fluids flow through the trans heater to be of some help.
