All, I need your help. My daughter drives my 2006 RL and in a different state so I am trying to do some remote support. I am hoping you can help. Attached are pics she took and sent me. She said it's leaking from the front so I sent her a few pics from the sticky on this forum which will tell us if it's indeed transmission (location B from the manual of the pic someone kindly posted). I also had her check the coolant and it's bone dry at the top. It's cold and dark so probably tomorrow but I asked her to check the reservoir as well. What we're trying to figure out is should we get it towed or should she just drive a couple of miles to a mechanic that has worked on this car before. In terms of history, she had the infamous experience of strawberry shake in the coolant where the two leaked. This problem was fixed last year.

This appears to be a decent size leak, would you say?
Can she add ATF through a funnel temporarily to get the car to the mechanic or should we just get it towed? At this stage I am leaning towards the latter.
Are most leaks of this type repairable at a regular mechanic with know how or does it have to go the dealership?
There's no way this is a coolant leak, right?
There are no warnings on the dash


The big puddle is with a car running and stationary. The streaks are from pulling into the driveway

Radiator cap removed.

 

You need a new radiator. The radiator has ATF going through it and the radiator has failed on the bottom so all the ATF and coolant leaked out. Get a DENSO replacement

Get a DENSO, it's OE https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...GJZAOIRXrF663P

 

Get it towed.

You can only hope that the engine & tranny have not been fried already. Neither appreciate being run dry.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate it. We had the radiator replaced, tranny flushed about 3-4 times to get all the coolant out last year. It was some shop during an emergency so not sure what brand they used. Will go with Denso this time.
A quick question though - Does this also mean that there's now coolant in the trans as well (same problem as before)? Or is this coolant only leaking which now happens to be red vs green in the old days?

 

I would definitely run some cheap-o trans fluid to flush out the trans of coolant just in case.. but given that the ATF is all on the floor, My bet is that it was an external failure where the ATF cooler/radiator met versus the last time was an internal failure which cause the ATF/coolant to mix.


Red ATF is OEM Honda fluid which is only recommended for our AT's. I wouldn't go anything else. Additionally, the coolant to be used in our radiators should ONLY be the blue.. don't use the green.

 

thoiboi is all over it ^^^^

 

I guess people not reading your post. You clearly stated that radiator problem was addressed. So not sure why they keep recommending same thing.
This looks like pure transmission fluid. I don't see any sign of antifreeze or mixed antifreeze with trans fluid. Not sure why you low on antifreeze, maybe reservoir is empty?
Anyways top it off, check if there is any antifreeze leek. If not, check trans fluid level and if it not mixed with antifreeze. If not mixed, top it up. with trans fluid (dipstick method is OK).
Start engine, check if there is visible leaks when car is running and how bad are they. It will leak much faster when engine running (pump is pumping fluid If leak is not too bad and it is not mixed with antifreeze, you are safe to drive short distance.
If I would have to guess from pictures there is trans hose problem, maybe hole in radiator or nipple on trans is damaged.

Good luck.

 

thank you. You nailed the issue(s). Luckily, I had eyes on the ground with a daughter who’s pretty techie and her friend who got under the car and found multiple leaks, a couple of clamps that had come loose. They topped off the radiator fluid and fixed that problem. They also topped off trans fluid as it was showing empty. As a precaution they drove it to the shop but they’re slammed so hoping to find out on Tuesday what else could be going on.

Will keep the group posted. Thank you everyone.

 

Loose clips and hose(s) is what all this turned out to be. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

Whew!

 

Whew too!

Bit of a coincidence both sets were loose - sounds like someone forgot to pinch everything back up..

Let's hope no lasting damage done.