Hi fellow RDX owners. This weekend I was performing a what was supposed to be an uneventful oil change… I spotted residue and built up dirt on the transmission case. After taking off the metal piece that covers the transmission housing, I discovered this… please see the below image. Any other DIY’ers that spotted similar situation on their rides or am I an unlucky one with a leaky transmission? I haven’t seen any puddles of fluid in my garage or driveway. What should my course of action be? Take it to the dealer? Wipe it off and watch for re-appearance of fluid? I’ve seen another post here where someone got a new transmission as a result of a leak but I believe the leak was coming from a different spot. I’ve never seen this on any of my cars in over a decade of DIY’ing oil changes, etc.

 

That doesn't look like much of a leak. If it was me, I would just wipe it off and then see if it comes back.

 

That’s what I thought on doing, although I was able to wipe off one drip. Might send a video to my dealer and see what they say. Just wanted to see if others have a similar situation with their tranny cases.

 

Was it red in color when you wipes
it off?

 

There was an Acura video early on that talked about what appeared to be an oil leak. It's hard to tell if your leak is at the same spot but it's worth a look.

​​​​​​http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/ext...etp/embed/auto

 

I think it was red at one point, but it’s hard to tell because it’s covered in a bunch of dirt. I was trying to attach a video but need to figure out a different way.

 

you need to clean it good, let it dry out and keep an eye on it. If its leaking, it will reappear and you can check the color on a white paper towel.

 

Have you changed the transmission fluid in the past? Are the drain & fill plugs torqued properly? Have you accidentally spilled some fluid while refilling? It could be a bad seal, but I wouldn't count on it. If that were the case, you'd see a good amount of actual fluid. It looks more like you got some oil or other fluid on there and it got caked with road debris/gunk. At least that's what it looks like in the pic ... it could look different in person?

 

I had something similar happened to my 2019 RDX but it ended up being the transfer case was leaking. I took it to the dealer and they had to replace the actual transfer case due to a issue with manufacturing.

 

I haven’t changed the transmission fluid and the dealer only changed my oil once (I did it the other 7 times). I don’t think there was any spillage, but who knows about that one time the dealer did the change. The dirt/caked on fluid seems to be all along the bottom seal and is more pronounced around some of the larger bolts.

 

seems like a major surgery 😬 Has it been fine ever since? Have you had any ancillary issues that arose elsewhere post repair? How long did the repair take for you? Thank you for your input.

 

So I opened mine, and it looks the same, but I don't think its an active leak, it might be factory residue of some lubricant. My cover was dry, which means its not dripping to the cover, or at least its very slow leak. I wiped it off, it was very sticky and dark, this is definitely not transmission fluid. Will check again, since bottom of my cover had nothing on it, I think this is something from factory

 

Any update on this, is it continuing to leak?

 

It might be the transfer case fluid weeping out. After having recently done my fluid exchange, it seemed low and there was a similar residue where the transfer case mates to the transmission.

 

do you know the torque specs on those transmission housing bolts that are visible in the picture from under?
I read somewhere 47 lb-ft, but not sure

 

So I wiped mine off clean, and nothing seems to be coming out. However, I think there is a tinny seepage of transmission fluid coming out from one of the bolts. Its extremely small, maybe after 150-200 miles if I wipe paper tower I will see a tinny wet sport that appears to look reddish in color. I first thought its some external water/condensation, so I wiped it clean, and the same thing happened again after few hundred miles. I wonder if the transmission housing bolt is not torqued properly? I am going to have bring it in, and ask them to check torque on all the bolts. its coming from the bolt, but initial mess was definitely from something else that was left at factory.

 

I have this issue also. There is not much fluid around that seam but there is some on the bolts that is visible. There are no drips on the floor and the plastic cover is dry as well. The fluid in the transmission seems to be the correct level and none is missing but I suspect this will get worse over time.




My guess is that its coming from the bolts and moving down to the seam which is the lowest point. I am wondering if they can be safely tightened or if the gasket is starting to go.

 

One of my bolts (as in your picture) continues to release some traces of what appears to be transmission fluid. But the amount is so tinny, maybe in 100 miles a paper towel will show some faint trace of transmission fluid. I did go to dealer with it, and it was useless as they checked torque and said amount of fluid spotting was too small.
it’s definitely coming from the bolt. What are the torque specs for these bolts?

 

BTW, there was a lot of sticky grease around bolts and transmission case housing from factory. Do not confuse this with the leak, you can wipe it off clean to make it easier detecting anything new.

 

But this car is near 9 years old. I feel like that shouldn't still be in play at that age.

 

oh,
sorry did not realize you had 2nd gen rdx.

 

...And I didn't realize this was the 3G forum! Well the problem still exists and IIRC you have the 10 speed vs my 6 speed. Interesting.

 

I am not even sure if at this rate of leak transmission fluid will drop low, maybe loss of one oz in 50k miles. Its not even enough to drip into a cover plate to leave a mark that is under a the bolts.
I was thinking of removing a bolt and putting RTV around threads, but will wait before warranty is over.

 

Anyone else cares to look under their transmission housing bolts for signs of trans fluid?

 

I removed the panel under the transmission and looked at my wife's 2022 RDX. Totally clean. 8300 miles.

I didn't crawl back under far enough to check the transfer case to transmission interface for any ooze.

 

What about transmission case housing bolts you see from
under, are they totally dry, on mine I small traces of trans fluid when I wipe them with paper towel, but nothing drips onto a cover under. Dealer said it was “normal”, which is BS

 

We have just under 21K miles on our car and I don't see anything on the bolts.

 

Thanks for checking. I am going to have to go to dealership again and this time will demand they contact acura. They are trying to brush it off as normal. To me normal when they are totally dry and not damp

 

UPDATE: I brought this up to my local dealer when the car was in for front lower control arms, and they did acknowledge a leak. Although they couldn’t quite figure out where from. It was either the bell housing or the transfer case. So they put some tracing fluid in, wiped everything off and let me drive for a week. Took it back after that but nothing visible. It’s been a month or so since then. Advised to keep an eye and see what’s up during the next oil change.

 

The leak might be too small for them to do anything. My expectation for it to be totally dry everywhere, but it appears to “sweat” some small traces of fluid, maybe porous case. Its probably so small that you will louse like 1 oz of fluid per 50k miles, at which point you will get fluid replaced,
so not an issue. The concern of-course if it can get worse with time….
I dont know if you want to push them to get a rebuilt transmission, they dont want to do, and neither do you. Its a big job, and there is no guarantee it will be any better and u will end up with rebuilt unit…

 

Took another look, yep, some fluid appears to be accumulating at the lowest point of bell-housing (where bolts are). Its hard to see it, but if you touch with your fingers its some oily stuff, does not look red, but could still be tranny fluid that has dried out and lost color. its also not coming from bolts like I thought before, its either leaking from the seal between bell housing or just porous case.

Its small that no drips on the cover plate. Will leave it alone and let it accumulate more and will go to dealer in couple of month the second time. Need to document all this and really push them to get some resolution on this before warranty runs out. They playing dumb and say “its small, and we not sure what it is, looks ok to us and etc”. The only way to fix it might be getting new transmission. I guess acura definition of a leak when you see drips, but thats bullshit, it has to be totally dry. Usually it starts like this, but by the time u hit 100k miles it becomes active leak

 

Btw, this kind of stuff you can only notice yourself during DYI, dealership would not flag it for those that take their car to dealer for everything. Would not surprise me that a lot of you have this issue also, but because your car only gets serviced at the dealer, nothing like that will ever be discovered.

 

My oil change is due in about a thousand miles. I'll re-check then and post pics. I'm guessing those who have a weeping issue will have it for the duration of their ownership, while those who don't will be ok. I'm not holding my breath for a dry undercarriage. Last service I wiped it clean approx 4k miles ago.

 

sounds good, please let me know if yours look totally dry. You might want to run your fingers or paper towel, because it might not look like its leaking. Initially mine had a lot of sticky brown stuff, which I thought was some factory residue, so I clean it all out good with alcohol and made it nice and clean, this way I can see if anything new comes out, and it looks like it does 🙁

 

@russianDude the problem is that you are simply not driving fast enough to prevent the fluid from weeping out..... page 34898 of the owner manual states this.

 

update. Some progress, dealer (on my 3rd attempt) acknowledged small leak but claimed its too small. They sprayed something on transmission and told me to come back in 2-3 weeks. I already see stain forming on their spray. The next step if they see the leak, they will call Acura tech-line for advice how to proceed. He did try to say that some small seepage maybe normal, but we all know that no seepage is normal. I think they going to be reluctant to replace transmission for multiple reasons, but I will try.
It looks like the leak is through the aluminum case (porous). The only fix is the transmission replacement….

 

I just did the timing belt on my 2G and the weeping is still present on mine. I did tighten the drain plug for a 1/4 turn to be sure and will see. The transmission fluid is not low at all.

 

Mine is right through the metal case. Honda is “famous” for their porous metal casings used in transmissions….

 

According to dealership this is not a leak ☹️
yo can see white spray they put is discolored in some
places, yes its not wet, but some little fluid sweating through. I guess not enough for concern?

 

Ill check mine again after the next oil change. It looks so clean under there! If these transmissions don't have a notable failure rate, I would think that if you don't see a puddle on the floor then just drive it and be happy. The stains do look like the weeping is coming from the bolts. The other half of the case where the gasket would be looks normal and I would expect it to be stained if the gasket seam was in play. Maybe its a design thing. Also try to find an independent Honda mechanic and have a chat. They may be able to share detail in a more frank way about your issue vs the dealer. How many miles did you drive it between when they cleaned up the case and rechecked it?