Something leaking from engine

[kirr]

I noticed a small puddle of red liquid and thought it was the transmission. I heard there was a dipstick for it. I could only find oil dipstick. Where is it and what can I do about the leak?

[Renn 208]

Originally posted by kirr
I noticed a small puddle of red liquid and thought it was the transmission. I heard there was a dipstick for it. I could only find oil dipstick. Where is it and what can I do about the leak?

There is a plug for the transmission dipstick (where on your car? I do not know for sure, but on an M119 it's close to the firewall on the passenger side of the engine bay, so that might be a good place to start looking for it.)

The problem is, you actually need to either buy a tranny dipstick, or find someone with one, as it does not come with the car. Also, to get a correct tranny fluid level, the engine needs to be hot. Many underfill the transmission by taking cold readings and only filling to the bottom mark of the dipstick. The assumption is that the fluid will expand enough when hot to be withing range. In practice-- often, that's just not the case.

(Props to my buddy Goeff the MB tech for that bit of practical knowledge!)

Your best bet would be to make friends with an MB tech/indy mechanic, and see if they don't mind checking the fluid level for you.