Should I worry about this leak?

[proffieh]

I bought an '06 LJ 4.0l with an automatic about 6 months ago. It has 160k miles, and has been (as far as I know) well maintained.

Some background on the current situation: I had the transmission rebuilt a couple of weeks ago. My mechanic mentioned that he noticed the transmission was running hot after the rebuild, but he did something to take care of it.

Since then, it has been running fine. Lately though I noticed it shifting hard from 1st into 2nd (it sometimes does this). I also found out about the OPDA issue in my year jeep, and I have ordered a replacement. I notice some squealing on startup, but I'm convinced this is the serpentine belt and not the OPDA. I am still replacing it.

Finally, this brings me to my current issue. I popped the hood the other day after a 20 minute drive, and noticed that my radiator was scalding hot (it felt abnormal). My temp guages were fine, and my fluid levels were fine. Under the jeep though I had a large leak of what I am assuming was water or coolant. Today, I took a short drive, noticed the hard shift, and popped the hood to find a couple of things:

This unit is leaking rather heavily (I'm not sure what it is):

And underneath the jeep, it looks like I'm leaking fluid from the front center:

Any thoughts? I'm a bit paranoid with my recent transmission troubles.

 

[Modoc Guy]

is that liquid coolant, or oil?

 

[proffieh]

I believe it's coolant @Modoc Guy

 

[CharlesHS]

IF that is coolant then I would inspect the thermostat housing, water pump weep hole, radiator and hoses for the source.

 

[Modoc Guy]

Judging by where the coolant is, I'd be checking the water pump. They usually weep coolant like that when the seal goes bad.

And yes, you should be concerned. Have you ever changed out a water pump? If so, these are fairly easy. If not, there should be a thread with someone doing one here on the website.

 

[Irun]

The first picture, silver thing, is your A/C accumulator/drier. Anything leaking from there would be either R134 refrigerant, or PAG (Polyalkylene Glycol) oil. PAG oil is what's used in the A/C compressor and will move through the A/C lines. A leak there is generally an O-ring seal.