I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice - on our 1.6 Zetec we have recently bought, we've noticed a leak on the underside of the gearbox. It's on the main joint on the bottom of the box, almost like a seal has worn.

Can anyone offer any advice on what it could be? Are they prone to leak here? The car's done 98,000 miles but seems like it's been well looked after.

I've taken it back to the garage once as it's still inside it's month warranty and they cleaned it all down but it's started to appear again now, but not as bad.

Thanks.

 

they don't have a gasket between the two main cases its just instant gasket, they rod seal are prone to leaking though

 

if you could get some pics up that might help.

is it definately gear box oil?

 

Thanks. The car's back at the garage and I'll see what they say later. If it starts to leak again, I'll get some photos up. I've got a feeling the garage where we bought it from are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

 

check your warrenty conditions but you should be able to take it to another garage for repair under warrenty or at least for a diagnosis.

hope it gets sorted for you

 

It's in a similar place to shown on this photo:

 

well thats definately the gearbox casings joint and if thats your car there is an oily residue on the subframe exactly where i'd expect for a leak in that area.

it might not be that join though it could be a leaky drive shaft seal where your passenger side drive shaft goes into the box. if it is then thats pretty easy to sort and diagnose.

i'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

It's not my car but a photo I've found that is very similar.

Can a casing joint be fixed? Or is a new gearbox?

 

Crankshaft oil seal? If it is gearbox oil it will have a strong smell to it. It may be contaminating the clutch so probably best to get the box whipped off to see where it's coming from.