# Help! Redish substance pouring from under hood on driver side.



## sknyppy (Jun 24, 2005)

Yesterday I had my ATF and water pump replaced at the dealer on my '99 Jetta GLS VR6. Somehow they damaged my oil pan while changing the waterpump and replaced it their cost.
The tech stayed late to hurry and finish the job. Now I've got this redish oily substance pouring out under the hood on the driver side. I drove about 130 miles/2.5 hrs back without stopping from the dealership with this leak.
I looked under the hood and found the source of the leak. On the driver side if I look down between the side of the engine and the battery area I see a metal block with two circles with what looks like a hex bolt in the middle of each of them. When I crank the engine the fluid is coming out of these two circles pretty steadily.
Can my engine/transmission be damaged? I'm pretty worried right now. Should I have it towed back to the dealership instead of driving? Help!!!
Picture of leak area before engine start








Picture of leak area after engine start










_Modified by sknyppy at 11:12 AM 7-4-2009_


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## lemansvw (Jan 21, 2009)

*Re: Help! Redish substance pouring from under hood on driver side. (sknyppy)*

If it has a red color to it it sounds like it might be transmission fluid so yea I wouldn't drive it if I were you. Dealerships have been dropping the ball with things as easy as an oil change so this isn't shocking.


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## Krieger (May 5, 2009)

*Re: Help! Redish substance pouring from under hood on driver side. (lemansvw)*

idk what those bolts are, but that's tranny fluid. the tech prob didnt tighten it or didn't seal it up right.
or overfilled it... u check the fluid?


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## sknyppy (Jun 24, 2005)

*Re: Help! Redish substance pouring from under hood on driver side. (Krieger)*

Where/how can I check the fluid? I'm not sure it has a dipstick or not. I've got a 99 jetta gls vr6


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## randyvr6 (Aug 17, 1999)

*Re: Help! Redish substance pouring from under hood on driver side. (sknyppy)*

Well a couple things to keep in mind; 
VW OE transmission fluid is usually clear amber color and not red. I wonder what they used? 
There is no dipstick for the transmission.
Do you have a way to see if those 2 bolts can be tightened at all? 



_Modified by randyvr6 at 3:06 PM 7-6-2009_


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## VWBugman00 (Mar 17, 2009)

If its auto, it should have a dip stick. Red fluid is hydraulic generally, and a lot of aftermarket ATF is red also. I'm guessing they didn't tighten everything up in their haste to get out for the night.


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## randyvr6 (Aug 17, 1999)

*Re: (VWBugman00)*


_Quote, originally posted by *VWBugman00* »_If its auto, it should have a dip stick. Red fluid is hydraulic generally, and a lot of aftermarket ATF is red also. I'm guessing they didn't tighten everything up in their haste to get out for the night.

If it is a 1999 Mark IV Volkswagen, it does not have a dipstick. 


_Modified by randyvr6 at 3:07 PM 7-6-2009_


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## Krieger (May 5, 2009)

*Re: (randyvr6)*

just take it back and tell em to fix it. show the pics just in case they pull the "cannot replicate".
and yeah, aftermarket ATF is generally red, so they could have used anything...


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## typeSLone (Feb 8, 2002)

*Re: (Krieger)*

Those two big bolts that hold the trans cooler on have small o-rings on both the top and bottom of them, to seal them at the top of the cooler and at the connection on trans.
They can tear when the bolts are removed. Back in my dealer days they we stocked the orings and they were always replaced any time the auto trans cooler was removed.


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## typeSLone (Feb 8, 2002)

*Re: (typeSLone)*

and coolant and atf both run thru that cooler, although the photos supplied look like atf.


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