Transmission leak?

I recently had my brakes/ball joints/ track bar/ steering drag link replaced on my 2016 Jeep JK that has a 3.5 inch lift.They also did an alignment. The jeep didnt seem to have any issues for a month.With the recent snow I put it into 4x4 high and heared a terrible grinding noise. It continued to make some grinding noises after going back to two wheel drive for a bit then stopped. Since then I have intermittently heard a low grinding noise on the driver side. The differentials have fluid, the transfer case looks clean. Only thing is now I am seeing some fluid on the manual transmission case and the check engine light is on.Could the previous work caused a misalignment issue? What do you all think might be going wrong?

 

@STP@l3x
Did you change the oil cooler filter housing? They been proven to be junk. Pretty much ALL of them leak. The oil runs down the Bell Housing which appears to be a Trans leak.

Quick check. Remove the engine cover. Look directly down in front of the filter housing. If you see a puddle of oil. The filter housing is the issue. BUT this has nothing to do with the grinding issue your having. Also, if your oil light is on. Your most likely low on oil.

 

At least for a while, Dorman was making an all aluminum filter housing/oil cooler unit for the 3.6 to address that problem. Are those still available? No longer being a JK owner, I have not paid much attention to available JK parts the last couple of years.

 

If you own a 3.6 jeep your oil cooler will fail. Just a matter of time. The plastic oem coolers are junk. Dorman makes a alum. one. Just had mine changed. Not a easy job. Who in the hell would put a oil cooler under the intake manifold ? If you have oil running down the bell housing you have a leaking oil cooler. This is a 800-1100 dollar job if a shop does it. If you are mechanically inclined you can do it but it's a pain in the ass. If you are in the market for a used jeep ask if the oil cooler has been replaced. If not give 1100 dollars less than you neg. the price with the seller. believe me it will happen.

 

Just another piece of stellar fiat/stellantis engineering but far from the only one. The front seals of the NSG370 are also prone to leaking so you have two possibilities. I'm sooooo happy I no longer own a JK and will never be in the market for another new Jeep product.

 

hat fluid on your transmission is almost certainly engine oil from a leaking oil filter housing. it's a huge issue on 2016 Jeeps where the plastic housing cracks and pools oil in the "valley" of the engine, which then runs down the back of the block and onto the transmission.

the grinding in 4x4 is a separate, more urgent problem. Since you just had front-end work and an alignment, the shop might have left a dust shield bent against a rotor or, more likely, your front driveshaft CV joint is failing because of the 3.5-inch lift angle. the check engine light is likely unrelated to the leak but could be a wheel speed sensor tripped by that grinding noise.

get the codes read and check that oil filter valley for puddles.