I found a couple drop of red hydraulic fluid on the floor. The dealer said it is either transmission fluid or a leaking motor mount.

I have to take a 1300 mile trip Tuesday and the dealer can't look at the car until late November.

I am taking it tomorrow to have a mechanic look for the source of the leak.

Any experience with a leaking motor mount?......Where to look?......How to check?......etc.?

 

I've been reading up on this too. I don't have a problem...yet, but I have read several threads on this, starting here

 

Thanks.....this is all very interesting. The dealer told me there was only one motor mount and it was on the driver side. Maybe my 04 is different that those referenced in that thread.

 

I had a leaky motor mount. It's the passenger side mount. Looking at the engine with the bonnet up, you should be able to see the mount on the left side. I don't have a camera handy, but it is pretty obvious when looking at it.

If the mount is leaking, you should be able to figure it out pretty quick. If that's the problem, I don't necessary think it will hurt anything to take the trip without the repair. (Someone here correct me if I'm wrong.) It's more annoying than anything else. (There will be a progressively louder noise coming from that part of the engine.)

If your motor mount is not leaking, I wouldn't take the car. It could be a much more serious problem...

Good luck!

 

Hmmm... I don't think this is new to the 05 and 06. I suggest a new dealer...

BTW, it is amazing to me how much stuff I learn here on NAM that my dealer didn't know or tell me about when I had a problem. I think this forum should be required reading for all Mini techs and service managers!!!

 

The oil inside the motor mount is not red, it's black.

 

Dealer said it was red, could be different on different years I guess.

 

Or, since your dealer said there is only one motor mount, he could be experiencing cranial-rectal inversion.

 

I have an '05. The motor mount is on the passenger side. It is silver, relatively large and sort of shaped like a spinning top. It leaked. The liquid was gummy and collected around the base of the mount. There was a lot of it and when I wiped it away, more appeared a while later. The liquid looked black to me but it could have started out red and accumulated a lot of dirt.

 

Actually, I looked and there is only one motor mount, it's on the passenger side. The driver side is a hinged mount with no dampening cell.

I am guessing from the location of the drip that it was tranny fluid.

I am hoping the mechanic, I go to tomorrow, can get the Mini on his rack since there is very little ground clearance.

Any experience with checking the fluid level of the tranny?