Driveable? Tow? Tranny? P/S?
 

Hi all,

Just got in late from a movie when the car started smoking right in my parking lot and dumping clear fluid out from the front. Instead of going into the underground lot, I parked it outside in case I need a tow. I *think* it is Dex 3 either coming from a transmission line or P/S - couldn't get the flashlight working well enough to figure out where the leak was coming from. The liquid was clear, not red or green, and had a minor burnt smell. I didn't notice loss in steering for the 10 seconds I drove it to park, and although it was smoking madly, it did not affect the temp gauge - meaning its hopefully not the rad...

Anyways - question for the light of day tomorrow - where should I look for a tranny line leak - I have no jack, etc. If I can't locate it, is it driveable if I add a quart of ATF, or should I just take the towing hit?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben

The fluid was clear? That's confusing. Tranny fluid is (or should be) red. Power steering fluid in out cars is actually trans fluid, so also red. Coolant should be green. Brake fluid should be clear.

Check your power steering resevoir. Someone may have filled it with regular power steering fluid instead of ATF.

If clear fluid IS coming out of your trans, I would be very worried.

what about the front diff. leaking?

That's what I was thinking. I went through this last week. It sounds like differential fluid to me.

Ah yes, forgot we have on of those:rolleyes:

the front diff. fluid is clear and seems like you have blown it up

If you get it up on stands and see this....

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photopost/...blown_diff.jpg


You're in trouble like I am.:o

"for the 10 seconds I drove it to park"
So in the 10 sec of parking lot driving the front diff spewed gear oil onto the cats and caused smoke as well as the clear liquid he is seeing? Or did the car drive home and then these things were noticed?
Clear and burnt smell... Must be brake fluid or diff oil hitting exhaust to make these things line up.

It only started leaking and smoking right when I got into the parking lot for some reason. There was a good amount of spillage, could it still be front diff fluid? I assume its not driveable and will have to tow if this is the case? Anyway I can tell if it is front diff without putting it up? The leak seems to be more prevalent on the passenger side.

Thanks,
Ben

Check all of your fluids. If it lost that much, one of them will be low.

Has the car been making any noises or acting strange in any way??

Going to check the levels right now. Will let you know. Thanks for the responses thus far.

If it is a cracked/blown front diff, is it driveable? Or unadvisable?

Will report back.

Ben

If it is a cracked front diff case, driving without gear oil will kill the front diff gears. But, the front diff is going to need to be replaced anyway...

Okay.

Soooo I checked everything and the coolant reservoir was dry and the oil is low. I found out the upper rad hose has a leak, burned through no doubt. I guess the p/o (I've had it for only 3 weeks) "forgot" to add antifreeze to the water he must have put in the radiator, hence the clear, but somewhat oily liquid.

Another question - might be a stupid one - The car started fine, I added water to the coolant reservoir (need to pick up antifreeze and oil somehow today) and it was almost as if the rad was not working - the fan was not going and it didn't seem to be picking the water out of the reservoir. I squeezed the hose just to verify an it was still dry. Could this be a larger problem than a mere puncture in the rad hose?

Thanks
Ben

But of course, if the front diff siezes while you're doing 40 down the road, the results could be interesting to watch... :eek:

When you add coolant/water to the radiator, it won't go into the engine until the thermostat at the bottom of the engine opens.

When the car is that low, your better off removing the top rad hose from the radiator and dumping coolant into the engine through there till full, then reattach and top off the radiator.

If the coolant was that oily, I'd watch it very closely for other signs of a bad head gasket.