MA7000 problem .... can Autoformers leak?

[Evitzee]

I've had an MA7000 integrated in the system since they first came out in 2008...absolute perfect function and reliability. No issues. It was their biggest integrated when it came out at 250w/ch, all LED lighting, five band equalizer, etc. Two weeks ago I was walking over to change CD's in the Mac SACD player and the amp clicked off. Odd, and the red led light was off, no power. The next day I pulled the fuse....BLOWN. H'mm, not a good sign but maybe it was a fluke. Put a new 8 amp, 250 volt slo blo fuse in, reconnected the power cord and got the red led light...great. Pushed the button and the fuse immediately blew again and now a snap-crackle-pop back by the fuse area. Dang. I left it for about a week until I could wrestle the 98 lb beast off the credenza with the help of a friend and got it into my SUV for a trip to the authorized service center 85 miles away. When the tech was pulling the amp out of the vehicle this afternoon I noticed that there was an oil looking substance staining the right side of the chrome chassis right below the autoformer. It was not there yesterday when the amp was loaded in the vehicle. The tech didn't think it was coming from the amp but there was absolutely no liquid in the vehicle that could have leaked on to the chassis. It was the consistency and color of motor oil. Can the tar substance in an autoformer degrade and separate over the years and start leaking? I did a search here but couldn't find anything along that line.

I'll have to wait for the diagnosis from the shop but I now believe the autoformer has failed.....hope not too much damage has been done if that is the case. Any thoughts or experience in this area for this kind of problem? I hate lugging a 100 lb lump around for service....a hard weight to handle except with two people and the amp sits on a 46 inch high credenza....so it has to be lifted up and down to the service cart.

Thanks.