2013 Tacoma transmission fluid leak?

No lights have come on in my dash. There is this metal pan underneath the engine in the front of my truck, it seems to have transmission fluid dripping down from it. I can’t figure if I should be worried. Would a Toyota dealer just drain the fluid and let it sit on this metal pan/guard? Or do you think it is a leak that is still flowing? Would a transmission fluid leak cause a dash light to flash on? Thanks to all who help

 

pics would greatly help.

(the transmission is pretty far back and has no metal pans under it so i doubt its trans fluid, its likely residual oil from an oil change that dripped down from the oil filter catch)

 

So here are the pictures of where the drip is coming from. It is orange so I figured coolant or tranny fluid. Doesn’t seem to be actively leaking now that it’s been a few hours since I’ve noticed

 

The oil filter is behind the first _skid plate_

Maybe it's not evident to me where it's leaking.

The transmission is behind the knob looking thing.

 

But you are right, the coolant is orange (at least mine is on Gen3). The tranny fluid will either be dark yellowish if clean, or dark grey / black if dirty.

 

If it’s a 4.0 v6, the oil filter is on top of the engine.

There are likely 2 possibilities.
You have a leak, or when they unscrewed the filter, they didn’t catch the oil from the filter.
There is a little drain hole that will let the oil drain in to a catch can.
If they didn’t catch the oil, it pours right down in to the skid plate on the driver side.
But it eventually runs out all over the plate.

 

The best thing to do is grab a 12mm wrench, pull the skid plates off and look.
Be careful when you put the bolts back in, they like to break off after years.
They take a lot of abuse for the elements, hand tight is good.

 

So it’s leaking into that skid plate and dripping down in multiple places. I just had this car looked at so I’m assuming it’s not a leak at this point. Just curious if someone else has ever had this happen.

 

I had it happen when I did my first oil change.
I didn’t see the hole behind the filter to catch the oil when removing the oil filter.
Oil poured down in to the front skid plate. I had to pull the, off and clean them.

I’d love to insure you there isn’t a problem.
But you can clean it up the best you can and keep an eye on it.
Or pull the plates and take a look.

What color is the fluid?

 

The fluid is orange. A few drops this morning when I got to work. I can feel it all over that skid plate. However I haven’t seen anymore drops throughout the day

 

Where are you located physically? Engine over heating and leaking coolant out the overflow spout? Maybe a rotten line?

 

I’m in Colorado Springs. Not to familiar with the overflow spout, or Tacoma’s I’m general seeing as I just bought mine. I don’t think it’s overheated, and the coolant level also looks like it’s perfect

 

its orange from all the rust its collecting lol.

Again, the transmission is so far back it doesnt have any skid plate underneath it. Unless a trans cooler line is leaking its likely something else. Probably a lazy lube tech that spun the filter off and let the couple of ounces of oil drain to the front skid plate. But, not hard to clean things up and check yourself.

 

I suggest pulling the skids for a closer look. In looking at the photo closer, it looks like the passenger side of the rear skid is not attached properly. I believe the tab is supposed to be overhanging the front skid. If you pull it down take some more photos. Looks like behind the wet spot there is a collection of dirt around a possible leak.

Edit, some photos from the top down might help, agree with the other suggestion around tranny cooler line in the area.