Danimal

My car has been up on stands for weeks (multiple projects in progress)....but continues to leak out of that tiny drain hole...I cleaned the engine and tranny fairly well.... and it continues to leak from the drain hole without starting the engine in weeks....

Any ideas???

It appears to be motor oil but, not sure.....If it is engine oil, I would assume rear main seal....

But it could be tranny lube....front main seal.....

OR Clutch fluid leaking from the slave....

Is there a way to confirm what type of fluid it is?

Thanx

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

is your clutch fluid level stable? should be able to tell the difference between clutch and motor/tranny fluid by how thin the clutch fluid feels. Consistency tells a lot about the fluid. Also, what color is the fluid that is dripping? if your clutch cylinder has dark fluid and what you are seeing is amber then its unlikely your clutch.

otherwise its probably a seal

Danimal

It feels thin but color is hard to tell because it is picking up **** in the bell housing before it drips....level on clutch resvoir seems normal (I have had the car for about 6 months and the leak has been fairly consistant)...I really am leaning torwards the clutch slave as they are prone to go out and it is hard for me to believe that a tranny f seal or motor r seal would be leaking without the motor turning over ( AKA all motor and tranny fluid is sitting in the pan)....It was considerably wet around the slave boot prior to cleaning....maybe I looked at the clutch fluid soooo often that I never actuallly relized it was slowly draining

Danimal

I am going to mark the clutch resevoir and then do the 'pepsi challenge' with motor oil in one hand and the leaking fluid in the other to compare consistancy...

thanx

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

fwiw, my clutch slave failed a month ago. Drips from this piece end up directly under the clutch slave. So that is another factor to identifying, the location of drip and any residual on the side of motor or body. Dont forget that its very unlikely to be below any signs of leakage. My leaks since beginning my neverending project have been: valve cover, cam seals, clutch slave, and rear tranny seal. Ive fixed all but the last, which seems to leak enough to leave a drop hanging but never to fall

y8s

iTrader: (8)

probably motor oil. if it smells like gas, it's motor oil. if it smells like ***, it's tranny fluid.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

gear oil smells like sulfer. Just touch your tongue to it, you'll know which flavor immediately.

bripab007

Most likely motor oil from the rear main seal.

The tranny input shaft seals don't seem to leak much, if ever, and if it were slave cylinder, it wouldn't be leaking from the tranny weep hole and you'd notice your clutch master reservoir draining.

miatamania

iTrader: (9)

My rear main seal was great when I took my tranny apart, but I still had motor oil in the trans...and really thick around the rubber grommet for the slave cylinder...thinking it might be leaking from the rear of the engine and down? CAS O-ring?

Danimal

The car has not run in weeks and continues to create small daily puddles from the TINY TRANNY DRAIN HOLE is this the 'tranny weep hole'....I assume they are the same

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

Hmm ... i dont see how the rear main would continue leaking after the oil has drained into the pan. Has your oil pan ever been removed or could it have hairline cracks? I forgot to mention that my first attempt at getting a good seal on the oilpan failed on the front where that rubber grommet under the main seal is. I could easily see that being a possibility.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

Just JBWeld it closed and it won't leak anymore.

Atlanta93LE

iTrader: (5)

If your valve cover gasket and/or CAS o-ring are leaking slowly, then the oil will eventually run its way down to that area and drip. Mine does it...too lazy to swap valve cover gaskets (waiting until I want to paint it). It sometimes takes a while for all the oil to get down there and drip, so it can continue to drip weeks after parking.

bripab007

y8s

iTrader: (8)

if motorcycles can run wet clutches...

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

Remember this one... you can read the whole thread but posts 16/17/18 are where we all figure it out: https://www.miataturbo.net/general-miata-chat-9/how-long-can-i-last-w-o-tranny-fluid-10233/