I drive a 2003 Jeep Liberty and recently went in for an oil change at a local Jeep dealership (b/c I have free coupons) and walked out with an extremely large bill. I had all brakes and rotors replaced, 4 new tires, transmission flush…etc. And all this because they told me I would need it all to pass my inspection at the end of the month.
After having this work performed, I drove my car to NJ and then back up to MA. After I left NJ my dad saw a very large tear drop shape of transmission fluid where my car had been parked. After my drive was over, I realized the whole back of my car was covered in transmission fluid, which was leaking between the two front tires.
So then I immediately brought my car back to the dealership where the service was provided. They are now telling me that the transmission leak has nothing to do with any of the work they performed, but I do need to get a defective input speed sensor replaced on my transmission. I have done my research and no where am I finding that an input speed sensor would be cause for a transmission fluid leak and I had no other signs of a failure other than the leak. Can anyone tell me if this makes any sense and if this is just a co-incidence that this happened the day after I had all the service done on my car?
On top of all of this, I had my transmission replaced exactly two years ago.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a mechanic in the Boston area? I’m new to the area and I’m largely dependent on the local Jeep dealership.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I think the key here is the time between your Oil change,trans flush and when you noticed the leak and brought it to their attention. What I am saying is they should have noticed the leak at the time of the flush. Whats the exact time frame here?
The timing of this does seem very suspect. I don’t know about your car, but yes the speed sensors on some cars and bolted into the transmission and fluid can leak from them. I had to replace one on a 91 car that I had once for this very reason.
You needed a transmission flush in order to pass state inspection? It sounds to me more like you got a wallet flush! Tires are easy to tell – if they’re worn down to the tread wear bars, they’re worn out. Brakes are harder to tell – how many miles on the old brakes, and what kind of driving (city/highway, gentle/hard braking)?
The speed sensor usually attaches to the transmission, and conceivably could have been damaged during service – or just have failed coincidentally. The fact that you have a major leak after (probably) unnecessary service is highly suspicious.
That Jeep dealer will be glad to give you a wallet flush any time you want it. (I hope they do it with a smile!).
You do need to replace something…that Jeep dealer.
An independent shop will, surely, respect your wallet more than that Jeep dealer. If you go to Actual Car Info (click on it at the top of the page), you can find mechanics that others have employed on their vehicles and are happy with their repair.
1 week, by the time I noticed the leak it was 1 week from the day the work was finished (w/ very minimal driving in between until my trip to NJ where the leak was found).
Oh thanks for pointing out that link! I missed it.