2006 Mazda Tribute - suspected oil leak

[nofishfisherman]

Its a 2006 Mazada Tribute with a little over 70,000 miles. I took my the car into the mechanic last week due to a power steering issue. It was making the whinning sound and it was tough to steer and there was a leak coming from under the car. I suspected a power steering fluid leak and the mechanic came back with the same conclusion. A cracked hose was replaced and power steering was flushed at the same time and new fluid put in. That took care of the whine and steering issues.

Now a day or two after I got the car back I notice there is still fluid dripping from the same area under the car. I took it back in and they said the power steering fluid is still totally full and that the fluid leaking is the wrong color. At this point they tell me there is a minor oil leak from where the transmission meets the engine. They thought this might be the culprint but it was a minor leak and they would need to degrease the engine to know for sure. They thought it could have also been residual fluid that had leaked from the power steering. Since it was the day before thanksgiving and the leak was minor I brought the car home and they said just to keep an eye on it and since it was a minor leak they saw no big deal with it.

Now today I'm still seeing a leak and over a 4-5 hour stretch of the car sitting in one spot I see a spot maybe 4-5 inches wide develop under the front middle of the car. Same place I say the steering fluid issue.

My question, does anyone have a guess as to the cause? Can a minor oil leak in the location mentioned leave a 4-5 inch stain/puddle in a few hours? Is there something else you might suspect it being? After the car is parked for a few minutes you see a spot the size of a quarter develop. The fluid color is a dark brown, looks to be oil. I just had an oil change and looked at the oil level and it still looked fine.

I didn't get a repair quote for the oil leak but the guy said it was probably a $20 part but likely a 7 hour repair due to the work needed to access the part. A 7 hour repair sounds expensive. Any ideas on what that might run me?

I've put a fair bit of money into this car already and am gettig tired of it.

[delcecchi]

Isn't the difference between motor oil and power steering fluid (ATF?) pretty obvious? Lay a white paper towel down under the leak and you should be able to tell by color or smell or catch some in a small pan.

[nofishfisherman]

Yeah its for sure not power steering fluid leaking this time around. The old power steering fluid was black and dirty so wasn't as obvious to my very untrained eye, the new stuff is bright red and would be obvious.

The fluid i see leaking now is almost certainly oil.

[Jeremy airjer W]

If we are talking about the leak coming for the back side of the engine about right above the transfer case, if its an all wheel drive, than check the banjo bolt that's right above where passenger drive axle goes into the transfer case.

This is a very common leak. Again if its an all wheel drive model.

[nofishfisherman]

It is all-wheel drive. I'm actually seeing the leak dripping down from more toward the front but that doesn't its dripping straight down so I'm not 100% sure the actual source.

I'll try to get under there to see better where the leak is coming from.

Right now all I know is what I can see by looking under the car quick and what the mechanic told me. All he said is that there was a small amount of oil where the engine meets the transmission. He though it to be a minor leak at most. But with the amount of oil i'm seeing on the ground it seems like it would be more than minor.

I'm a mechanical moron so don't know much about all this stuff. Just trying to get some idea of what the issue might be.

[nofishfisherman]

So I crawled under the car a little more tonight and it appears the car is leaking less now than it was on Monday.

On MOnday you'd park the car and have a spot forming within a few minutes. Now I had the car parked for 2+ hours with a plastic bowl under it to catch the fluid and there was maybe 1 or 2 drops at most.

The oil pan is covered as is everything behind it.

I checked the oil and transmission fluid level and both appeared fine.

Is it possible that the amount of fluid I saw leaking was old fluid that had leaked out of the power steering and just hadn't made its way all the way to the ground yet?

Not real certain how to proceed considering the suspected leak seems to be leaking less and the fluid levels seem to be remaining steady.

Is there any other sort of dark fluid that could be the culprit?