I changed out the transmission fluid in my car about 6 months ago. I was told that replacing the drain plug gasket was optional, as it's a solid metal disk rather than the 'crush' type of gasket, so I just kept the original gasket when I changed the fluid.

This morning I parked my car facing slightly down hill, and came out to a puddle of fluid under the front-right part of the bumper. Fluid has the unmistakable smell of transmission oil, and all my other fluid levels looked normal. The fluid looked like it had collected in a pan that extends a foot back from my bumper (pan is on the right side of the car, split by part of the frame - transmission is on the left side of the car), and then leaked out onto the ground.

Now, I had a super early 2-10 AM workday today and am not feeling super lucid. I wiped off the area around the drain plug, made sure it shifted okay, and went home. After getting home I noticed that the opposite side of the transmission from the drain/fill plugs also had fluid on it. No new fluid was visible on the plug side. So I wiped off the other side as well and came back in to wait and see if any leaks appear.

I've got half a quart of transmission fluid sitting around still, and I'm gonna top off the fluid to see exactly how much has leaked out when I work up the energy. I don't know much about drivetrains though, and was wondering if anybody has a theory on where the leak may be coming from and why it would've migrated over to the opposite side of the car (or how... I can't really find any continuous oil-coated areas from the transmission to the passenger side of the car, but I'm sure that the fluid that was on the ground is transmission fluid). Thanks, sorry for the rambling, and I hope this makes sense.

 

double check your power steering fluid levels. it uses atf and the high pressure hose is known to fail and leak fluid all over everything on that side. you can usually find if it's leaking by peeling back the insulation a little. the fluid leaks underneath the insulation and comes out near the pump connection but it will get all over everything in that area. here is where the hose is located:

 

Nearly impossible to confused the smell of POWER STEERING (Sometimes ATF) with GEAR OIL.

Food for thought fyi.

 

If it is tranny fluid it could be coming from the axle seals. That would explain it coming from both sides but I don't see how it could migrate that far.