DCT Leak - Where from?

[CrucialScott]

Hey guys,

Worried that my DCT box might be leaking fluid!

I cleaned the under-tray cover before going on a little road-trip the other day. 550 miles later and back at home i lifted her up again to see a build up of residue back on the inside cover (pictured).

Also the bottom of the box feels oily to touch and i did see a dip of oil about to fall off that top hose that is circled in red.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where it could be leaking, and if its possible to fix myself. Bottom transmission seal looks AOK and all bolts are tight.

I guess i will get a warning on my dash that the DCT fluid is low before i can actually do any damage?

Thanks

[/URL]

[/URL]
Residue build up

[/URL]
Garage

[///M Power-Belgium]

Hi Scott
Last year i was at my BMW dealer and i started to talk with a guy also a ///M3 e92 DCT owner,so this was about the same problem as you,they replaced him the DCT pan ,it's a complete kit ...pan,sealings,bolts,sensor,and also the Pentosin ,this is a special oil for the DCT.
The costs.... i saw the amount of the bill....1,180 Euro's including 1 day of work !
BTW...i'm sorry for you to hear and seeing this,and i want to say...don't drive the car like this,we all know our DCT is not cheap !
All i can say is....i wisch you all and only the best,and best thing to do is...call your BMW dealer Monday !

[BPMSport]

Seen this on quite a few cars actually. All of them were covered under warranty.

[HoodR$CH]

Mine is at the dealership for the same problem right now.

[BMWPWR]

What model year is your m3?

[CrucialScott]

Hi Scott
Last year i was at my BMW dealer and i started to talk with a guy also a ///M3 e92 DCT owner,so this was about the same problem as you,they replaced him the DCT pan ,it's a complete kit ...pan,sealings,bolts,sensor,and also the Pentosin ,this is a special oil for the DCT.
The costs.... i saw the amount of the bill....1,180 Euro's including 1 day of work !
BTW...i'm sorry for you to hear and seeing this,and i want to say...don't drive the car like this,we all know our DCT is not cheap !
All i can say is....i wisch you all and only the best,and best thing to do is...call your BMW dealer Monday !

Thanks for the input mate! Bloody hell my car is a '10 and out of warranty by about 3 months. Might have to make a scene in BMW and see what they do...

Seen this on quite a few cars actually. All of them were covered under warranty.

My car is out of warranty by about 3 months now, this isn't something i can tackle myself you think?

Mine is at the dealership for the same problem right now.

Should of got a 6MT

What model year is your m3?

2010 Alpine White M3 DCT Coupe - 44K on the clock was owned by a CEO at BMW before i had it. I've been driving it for about 3 months.

Man if i've got to fork out for this repair bill it could mean my car is off the road for a while. I really don't have £1K to blow on this thing right now....

And i have to drive this car a couple of days a week to get to work and back so i'm going to have to continue using it.....I guess there is a low DCT oil sensor on it (as its got just about everything else that you don't actually need ha)

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by CrucialScott

Thanks for the input mate! Bloody hell my car is a '10 and out of warranty by about 3 months. Might have to make a scene in BMW and see what they do...



My car is out of warranty by about 3 months now, this isn't something i can tackle myself you think?

I'd take it to the dealer & ask them to good will it. Chances are, most if not all the bill will be covered. GL -

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Lute

DCT..lol

Lute.... this is not funny

[W///]

Good luck buddy. I think if you are handy, surely this can be done at home no? I have seen people on here swap the fluid out themselves.

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Seen this on quite a few cars actually. All of them were covered under warranty.

Mike, how long have you seen this? I only started noticing threads like this popping up the past couple of months?

[jml]

Same thing happened to me. New DCT Pan, among other things that were leaking (PS rack, PS Pump, RMS, and Valve cover gasket). Very expensive stuff...glad it was on warranty.

[s65e90]

3 months out of warranty sounds like BMW may take care of it under good will. Good luck.

[CrucialScott]

Anyone had to deal with this outside of the warranty? Every case i have read seems to be done within the warranty period

[tmntmn]

I had the same issue a couple months when i had 53k miles so it was out of warranty, couple email/calls with my SA he got BMW to cover it under warranty.

When BMW was fixing the leak it was leaking from the oil pan and the side gasket, the repair bill show Oil pan, 14 cuntersunk screw, bmw DCTF fluid, side gasket (part #28-60-7-842-856) its part # 2 on here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...08&hg=28&fg=15

[SYZ]

Fwiw, this does not look like a difficult DIY repair. On mine, the hose you circled has minor seepage as well, but nothing to be alarmed about. OP, if that is all the oil you have found on your undertray after 500 miles, do the repair when you have the extra cash to do so.

I am curious to know if the leak is originating from that connection in the hose, from higher up the hose, or from the pan gasket. Perhaps you could wrap something (heat wrap of some sort) around the hose there and check it later to determine if it is dripping from there or originating from higher up the line.

[CrucialScott]

Originally Posted by tmntmn

I had the same issue a couple months when i had 53k miles so it was out of warranty, couple email/calls with my SA he got BMW to cover it under warranty.

When BMW was fixing the leak it was leaking from the oil pan and the side gasket, the repair bill show Oil pan, 14 cuntersunk screw, bmw DCTF fluid, side gasket (part #28-60-7-842-856) its part # 2 on here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...08&hg=28&fg=15

Thank you, that was very informative and has given me a slight hope that i might be able to get mine covered under warranty. I hope BMW in the UK are as lenient as in the USA

Fwiw, this does not look like a difficult DIY repair. On mine, the hose you circled has minor seepage as well, but nothing to be alarmed about. OP, if that is all the oil you have found on your undertray after 500 miles, do the repair when you have the extra cash to do so.

The rate at which mine seeps out is extremely slow as well, however as i have explained my car is out of warranty by only 3 months. If i leave it now who knows what could happen in the future and then i will definitely be on my own (I wouldn't want my transmission to seize up like on that other thread where the guys DCT fluid got too low - can you imagine the price of a DCT box ). I want the leak to be sorted on my car no matter how fast or slow its coming out...

Yes if BMW doesn't want to honour the repair then obviously i'm going to have to go at it alone. I did find another thread with an exploded diagram and the part number for the leaking hose/pan etc. That or move the car on to another poor soul...

I have a ramp and could probably tackle this myself however my first protocol would be getting BMW to do it, that way its covered by them in the future as well as the repair will have some sort of warranty incase it happened again.

I'm highly concerned with the build quality of these cars, mine has barely started its life and i've had 3 pretty big faults already in less than 3 months of ownership. I've not even done 800 miles in it yet.....

I am curious to know if the leak is originating from that connection in the hose, from higher up the hose, or from the pan gasket. Perhaps you could wrap something (heat wrap of some sort) around the hose there and check it later to determine if it is dripping from there or originating from higher up the line.

I'm 99% sure mine leaks on the return hose (the top one) to the DCT cooler located on top of the box. As fair as i can see its leaking where the rubber hose connects to the metal housing just before it mounts to the box itself. It could be like this at both ends.

[SYZ]

Originally Posted by CrucialScott

I'm 99% sure mine leaks on the return hose (the top one) to the DCT cooler located on top of the box. As fair as i can see its leaking where the rubber hose connects to the metal housing just before it mounts to the box itself. It could be like this at both ends.

If that's the case, I would first see if that hose is available from BMW and just replace that. Drain the fluid, swap out the hose, and refill with the recovered fluid. Easy and cheap.

[Malek@MRF]

I have seen this on many DCT cars that have come in and out of the shop.

In most cases, it seems to be leaking from the side pan on the transmission and trickling down to the lower pan.

Needless to say, the dealership will take care of it if you take it in. It seems to be a known issue for them from what I hear.

-Malek

[HoodR$CH]

Originally Posted by CrucialScott

Should of got a 6MT

I've got one, wanna buy it?

[CrucialScott]

In most cases, it seems to be leaking from the side pan on the transmission and trickling down to the lower pan.

Mine is leaking there as well, along with the return hose and the oil pan at the back.

I decided that i will lift the car up again and check that this problem could actually be seen, so i thought i'd take the car out...give it a good spanking and then lift it straight up.

Check out these photograph now! Can't wait to show this to them...

[///M Power-Belgium]

This is not a small leak..... Scott... good luck man !

[sylonien]

Looks like an explosion of oil everywhere

[///M Power-Belgium]

Scott... any news... update of it ?