Help - identify oil leak (have pics)!

[stoff]

Hey guys,

Recently I've noticed a bit of a leak coming from my car.. so after an inspection this morning I found the source of the leak.

Excuse my n00biness.. but is the leak coming from the gearbox?? What would be the most likely route to fixing this.. http://www.preludeaustralia.com/forum/images/smilies/geek.gif ie. issit an easy fix or $$$

Your help would be greatly appreciated.. i'm taking it in for a service next week, and I dont want them to screw me around telling me the wrong thing is leaking and charging me shitloads..etc http://www.preludeaustralia.com/forum/images/smilies/side.gif

http://members.iinet.com.au/%7Estophe/stoff%20002-1.JPGhttp://members.iinet.com.au/%7Estophe/stoff%20003-1.JPG

[Samo]

hard to tell if its engine oil or trans fluid...

if its engine oil ,... its the rear main seal
if its trans fluid its the input shaft bear/seal..

any of those is a gear box out job ...
wat car is this??

[stoff]

its a honda prelude VTIR 99 BB6..

so either way its gearbox related? thats not good to hear.. :(

[panda[cRx]]

well it's not really a gearbox issue, it's your seals.... but as samo said you'll need to remove the gbox to replace either of the 2 (which means alot of labour time)

it's pretty hard to tell from the pics, i'd say take it to a reputable repairer for them to get it up on a hoist and have a look. they shouldn't charge you just to have a look at let you know what you are looking at.

how did you notice the leak? is it like dripping or were u just looking under the car and saw it?

[CTR Coupe]

wipe it down with a rag and make sure its not coming from up higher.
wiping it down and checking it ever day will give you an indication of how badly its leaking. but like panda said get a professional to check it out.

[bennjamin]

it appears to be leaking from the flywheel cover. Which leaks up , from behind the flywheel - the rear main seal.

As said above 12 times you need to remove the gearbox AND clutch AND flywheel , then you can shimmy out the old main seal and lightly tap in the new one.

[stoff]

;1090254']well it's not really a gearbox issue, it's your seals.... but as samo said you'll need to remove the gbox to replace either of the 2 (which means alot of labour time)

it's pretty hard to tell from the pics, i'd say take it to a reputable repairer for them to get it up on a hoist and have a look. they shouldn't charge you just to have a look at let you know what you are looking at.

how did you notice the leak? is it like dripping or were u just looking under the car and saw it?

Basically I didn't see a speed bump and was travelling a little faster than I should.. heard a loud bang.. theres no physical damage to where it is leaking though (or any engine part for that matter) so dunno if that was the cause, or maybe its always been leaking..

so been monitoring it ever since for an oil leak, and surely enough, found a few drops of oil under my car every day.

Thanks for the advice guys, i have wiped it down and will be looking at it daily.

Seems like a good time to get my clutch replaced then :o

[Dxs]

get some on your finger and smell it..

if you are using honda MTF it smells quite different to engine oil.. MTF is more a weird honey type smell

[ECU-MAN]

check the sump bolts for corect tention

could be the
rear main seal
sump
inner driveshaft seal.

[nator]

Hey stoff, did u ever fix/solve this problem???

My car has a similar kind of dampness in that area.
I havent hit any speed bumps at speed like you mentioned you had, and mine isnt bad enough to actually cause a drip. But its clear there is a slight leak.

I noticed it when i was under my car preparing for an oil change.

Just looking for a diagnosis of the problem and whether or not i should be worried.
I wouldnt call it bad at all, im just fussy and dont like it when things arent how they're spose to be.

[Drew]

Could be many things, without actually seeing it it's hard to say...

But probably rear main seal as before in which case its $10-$40 for the seal and probably up to $300 labour; depends in the mechanic knows what he's doing or not and whether it's automatic or manual

[Atheist Princess]

My boyfriend has just had his crankshaft seal replaced after a similar problem...$20 seal + $441 in labour...if you have any mechanic friends who can at least have a look and tell you exactly what the problem is then you might be able to save yourself some time and/or money.

[kyle]

$441! in laybour! Hahahaha

[Atheist Princess]

$441! in laybour! Hahahaha

Thats what you get for driving a wrx :(

[JasonGilholme]

lol. Its no just wrx's its cars in general. lol

Gear box out is quite simple in a FWD providing you have a descent set of tools, a friend and a spare jack or two or three.

[Drew]

$441! in laybour! Hahahaha

Not at all unreasonable... Considering it's a Subaru boxer engine

You will they are impossible to work with even to change some fairly basic things

Honda's are comparitavely easy to do this on, but RWD is by far the easiest... With two sets of hands most can be done in around an hour

Honda's probably allow for 2-3 hours

Changed a rear main seal, clutch, gearbox and differential on a late 80's Mitsi L300 in 30 minutes with two people on it... Might be a world record?