Notices
Suspension, Brakes, Drivetrain discuss the wondrous effects of boost and your miata...
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by: 949 Racing

Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Apr 6, 2012 | 05:24 PM
  #1  
PhantomRoadster's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 200
Total Cats: 0
From: Central, NJ
Default Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?

I am in the middle of putting my transmission back in when I noticed a leak from the front. Is it normal for the front of the engine to leak during a clutch install or did something else foul up?

Old Apr 6, 2012 | 05:55 PM
  #2  
blaen99's Avatar
Elite Member
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,611
Total Cats: 25
From: Seattle, WA
Default

Is that antifreeze or oil?
Old Apr 6, 2012 | 09:03 PM
  #3  
PhantomRoadster's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 200
Total Cats: 0
From: Central, NJ
Default

I couldn't tell. My engine oil is usually a lot darker so I'm thinking it's antifreeze.
Old Apr 6, 2012 | 09:46 PM
  #4  
blaen99's Avatar
Elite Member
iTrader: (6)
 
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,611
Total Cats: 25
From: Seattle, WA
Default

If you can, feel it.

What I'm afraid of is that it is "chocolate milkshake". Does your oil and coolant look fine?

My gut instinct is it would be from the front crank seal, but my gut has been wrong before as that looks a lot like chocolate milkshake-ified coolant to me. Do you have any leaks above it, it being above your crank pulley?
Old Apr 6, 2012 | 10:21 PM
  #5  
flounder's Avatar
Elite Member
 
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,524
Total Cats: 31
From: Detroit
Default

Maybe the waterpump leaking down?
Old Apr 6, 2012 | 10:45 PM
  #6  
Savington's Avatar
Former Vendor
iTrader: (31)
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 15,442
Total Cats: 2,106
From: Sunnyvale, CA
Default

Originally Posted by flounder
Maybe the waterpump leaking down?
That's what I would go with.
Old Apr 7, 2012 | 04:07 AM
  #7  
curly's Avatar
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
 
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 15,168
Total Cats: 1,393
From: Oregon City, OR
Default

Yucky. Compare:

Attached Thumbnails Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?-2010-07-11-21_16_29.jpg  
Old May 1, 2012 | 12:09 AM
  #8  
h2kDotheDU's Avatar
Newb
 
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 15
Total Cats: 0
Default

The last time I saw that frothy brown mixture was in my father's 1997 buick lesabre. The intake manifold was made from a composite material, and the coolant (dexcool) had been known to form crystals in the coolant lines, which happen to run through the intake manifold. Needless to say, the engine was blown. :( I hope that's not the case! My advice when dealing with this (not the healthiest advice!) is to touch it, and taste it on the tip of your tongue. If it's sweet, it's coolant. If it's bitter (if I remember correctly), it's oil. I have heard somewhere that you could detect what it was with an ultraviolet light as well. I believe coolant glows, but I could be wrong. Good luck!
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
asmasm
Build Threads
82
May 26, 2016 04:37 PM
Tekel
Cars for sale/trade
29
Feb 5, 2016 04:16 PM
elesjuan
Build Threads
7
Nov 3, 2015 01:51 PM
pineda92
Meet and Greet
4
Sep 20, 2015 09:22 PM
SuperSneakySecretSquirrel
Meet and Greet
5
Sep 6, 2015 08:30 PM




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:49 AM.