Technical Gearbox oil leak

[boyracer9474626]

Hi all

Can someone help me? I have noticed little blops of oil on the driveway recently so decided today that I would jack the car up and have a look. The blops are appearing towards the front of the car. The blops of oil are only small so not losing loads of oil but obviously they’re noticeable. Once jacked up I noticed that the gearbox saturated with oil along the outside. (Picture below). The rest of the gearbox although looks dirty is dry. Just looking for suggestions at what this could possibly be? Or if anyone else has had this problem and solved it. I hear gearbox’s are expensive if it’s a more serious issue
My car is a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Dynamic Sport

Thanks all

 

[bugsymike]

So first confirm that it is gear oil (usually more thick, golden and with a pungent smell) and not engine oil (thinner and often darker, you can compare with oil from dipstick) Next check if oil is low in gearbox or engine.
If the oil is definitely only coming from gearbox/bellhousing area and not dripping from higher etc. then usually this will mean gearbox out, so will involve costs. If engine oil then possible cause is the crankshaft oil seal behind the flywheel, if gear oil then hopefully just the oil seal at front of gearbox, although even that can become more expensive if the front bearing in gearbox has worn causing the shaft to move around and early failure of the oil seal.
Either way after going to this expense it is often a good idea to replace the clutch assembly whilst gearbox out.

 

[boyracer9474626]

So first confirm that it is gear oil (usually more thick, golden and with a pungent smell) and not engine oil (thinner and often darker, you can compare with oil from dipstick) Next check if oil is low in gearbox or engine.
If the oil is definitely only coming from gearbox/bellhousing area and not dripping from higher etc. then usually this will mean gearbox out, so will involve costs. If engine oil then possible cause is the crankshaft oil seal behind the flywheel, if gear oil then hopefully just the oil seal at front of gearbox, although even that can become more expensive if the front bearing in gearbox has worn causing the shaft to move around and early failure of the oil seal.
Either way after going to this expense it is often a good idea to replace the clutch assembly whilst gearbox out.

Thanks for your reply. After more inspection and clean up of the outer gearbox shell I can confirm it doesn’t seem to be the actual gearbox leaking. I think that was just old oil that had been on there for sometime and had never been cleaned. Since cleaning I haven’t noticed it become wet again. But what I did notice was a slight leak behind it perhaps coming from above? It’s quite tricky finding where it is coming from tho from under the bonnet as it’s hidden. This is a picture from underneath the car where you can see slight gold oil blob on the end of the bolt

Hope this helps

 

[Mike1alike]

I may come frome above, from the gear selector. If so, you gotta take the selector out and replace seal. Easy job, much easier than replacing the gearbox seal.

 

[bugsymike]

Apart from that good suggestion , have you had a good sniff at the golden liquid to make sure it is gear oil and not brake fluid or even antifreeze.
Unlikely I am sure, but just to confirm.

 

[boyracer9474626]

Cheers guys for the replies. I’ve tried smelling it and it smells like oil. I have also tried wiping it and it appears like oil on the rag