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

Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-06-2012, 05:24 PM
  #1  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
PhantomRoadster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Central, NJ
Posts: 200
Total Cats: 0
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?

PhantomRoadster is offline  
Old 04-06-2012, 05:55 PM
  #2  
Elite Member
iTrader: (6)
 
blaen99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 3,611
Total Cats: 25
Default

Is that antifreeze or oil?
blaen99 is offline  
Old 04-06-2012, 09:03 PM
  #3  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
PhantomRoadster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Central, NJ
Posts: 200
Total Cats: 0
Default

I couldn't tell. My engine oil is usually a lot darker so I'm thinking it's antifreeze.
PhantomRoadster is offline  
Old 04-06-2012, 09:46 PM
  #4  
Elite Member
iTrader: (6)
 
blaen99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 3,611
Total Cats: 25
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?
blaen99 is offline  
Old 04-06-2012, 10:21 PM
  #5  
Elite Member
 
flounder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Detroit
Posts: 1,524
Total Cats: 31
Default

Maybe the waterpump leaking down?
flounder is offline  
Old 04-06-2012, 10:45 PM
  #6  
Former Vendor
iTrader: (31)
 
Savington's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 15,442
Total Cats: 2,099
Default

Originally Posted by flounder
Maybe the waterpump leaking down?
That's what I would go with.
Savington is offline  
Old 04-07-2012, 04:07 AM
  #7  
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
 
curly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 14,175
Total Cats: 1,129
Default

Yucky. Compare:

Attached Thumbnails Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?-2010-07-11-21_16_29.jpg  
curly is offline  
Old 05-01-2012, 12:09 AM
  #8  
Newb
 
h2kDotheDU's Avatar
 
Join Date: 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!
h2kDotheDU is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
elesjuan
Build Threads
9
11-14-2018 12:18 PM
asmasm
Build Threads
82
05-26-2016 04:37 PM
Tekel
Cars for sale/trade
29
02-05-2016 04:16 PM
pineda92
Meet and Greet
4
09-20-2015 09:22 PM
SuperSneakySecretSquirrel
Meet and Greet
5
09-06-2015 08:30 PM



Quick Reply: Leak from front of engine during a clutch install?



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:23 PM.