Leaking....."FLUID"...?

[James Scott]

My '95 SVX is leaking some fluid onto the exhaust pipe on the driver side at about the rear of the engine position. I had a trustworthy mechanic put dye in the engine oil, but he found no such leak source. He said the Rack & Pinion was wet and appeared to be the culprit. Beav on this website said I should consider the AT lines which pass on the drivers side.

I checked the Power Steering fluid level to confirm the Rack/Pinion as the leak source, but found after SEVERAL WEEKS now that there is no apparent loss of power steering fluid (ATF)! I finally got around to checking the AT fluid level this week...only to find that the level is actually HIGH! Please let me pose and consider a new, but important question:

Is it bad to have the automatic transmission fluid level at about 1/2 inch above the highest mark? It seems that the level is at that heighth whether checking when hot...or when cold overnight???

THANKS for your help!

Jim, my SVX was going through the same thing..I suspected an engine oil leak..the problem is the leaking oil gets blown about under the engine while driving..check the very front of the car near the radiator..look for the ATF lines that connect to the radiator.they are on the drivers side..look for pooling of liquid in the plastic lower cover..if you have some there I would suspect an ATF cooler line..my leak soaked the power steering rack and other parts ..yet the levels of those remained constant..even my ATF level was fine and actually higher than recommended..although it was leaking..then after months of this the line burst after a road trip..dumping about 5 quarts of ATF in my car port..food for thought..and good luck locating the leak..

[n00b on demand]

You should check the transmission fluid when its fully warmed up and with the car running. That way its more accurate. Check for the hoses to see if they are leaking.

[n00b on demand]

My power steering resevoir looks full as well but the hose is leaky and always has some fluid on it.

Mine smokes the same way, but it chugs power steering fluid like a fratboy downs beer. Mechanic said the rack was probably going. Of course, he said that after the PS light came on. After he forgot to connect the speed sensor...

[92SVXMan]

Hi everyone, I' ve seen that this has been covered to a point but I have a ATF leak driver's side between the back of the engine and the fire wall. I have dropped the exhaust (on the driver's side) just to get a little space to work, went and check all the hoses (and clamps) and they seam OK. After putting it back together I started it up and the leak showed up once more. Now at this point I can do one of two things, replace the short rubber hoses between the metal pipes for the transmission; or start looking at the steering rack.
The manual's (two books and the CD) are no help; so I am asking for pictures, or any help that you can send.
P. S. the leak seems to be coming from one of the two hoses that go into the top part of the steering rack (at the bottom of the steering column) , where the two metal hoses go in.

[Earthworm]

The best way to find the source of the leak is to clean all hoses then wrap them in towels. The one with the fluid on the inside is the one that's leaking.

[poweredx2]

My ps hose would leak under pressure.With your car running and hood open try to bend or wiggle the upper ps hose,if you see something like small drops of ps fluid appearing,you've found your leak,it really looks like several small pinholes.

[92SVXMan]

Originally Posted by poweredx2

My ps hose would leak under pressure.With your car running and hood open try to bend or wiggle the upper ps hose,if you see something like small drops of ps fluid appearing,you've found your leak,it really looks like several small pinholes.

Thats nice and its helpful but thats not where my leak was, it was at the metal hoses from under the left side of the engine to the metal hoses to the transmission. The two short rubber hoses that join the metal ones, they are about 5 or 6 inches long and go over the steering column. So I find that the clamps on the metal hose from the tranny are new but the wire clamps on the metal hoses under the engine are the older ones; whoever worked on this car did not replace them and bent the metal line so that it rubbed on the steering column giving me the pin hole leak. At first it was a slow leak and I was thinking the PS reervior, but thats on the other side of the car. I was hoping that it was not the steering rack, but when I got under the car it was RED fluild coming down; but after checking everything out it was the hose leaking down onto the steering rack. All is now dry, cost $4 (4 clamps to fit 1/2" hose) and 2 foot of rubber hose $1; so two days under the car and some cleaner and its back on the road.

[Cappy]

I'm experiencing the same situation. The Subaru mechanic swears that this fluid is ATF, even thought it's more brown than red. It's pooling in the under cover, and it seems to be leaking somewhere up high on the tranny. But the fluid levels never drop a bit. It's been leaking for about a year, and every day I clean up what seems like a half ounce from my garage floor. Let's seen now 365days x 1/2 oz/day = 183 ounces, or about 6 quarts of ATF!!!! I swear, it's never dropped a notch on the dipstick, and I know how to "warmup, shift thru gears, and check on a level surface" check my fluid levels. Incidently, NO OTHER fluid level has dropped in this car either, except a wee bit of brake fluid from time to time. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark

[92SVXMan]

I can't say where its coming from, but 6 quarts is a lot and it has to be coming from somewhere. Have you been adding fluids? Because sooner or later it will run dry. Have you check the power steering? It goes without saying that Subaru uses ATF for that, so there is two units that use the same fluid. What I found was that the steering column was rubbing the transmission line to the radiator, but thats just mine. You should go under the car and clean everything from front to back and come back the next day, and hopefully your be able to see where its coming from.
Good luck, and let me know where the leak was.

[Cappy]

I check all the fluids at least once a week. Especially on this car because it never ceases to amaze me that I clean up that little puddle every day. The Suby mechanic swears it's coming from up in the transmission, but it's so high up he can't readily see where. I did have a leaky Power Steering rack, but replaced it about a year ago. The only thing I can figure is that it's WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID getting into my tranny and pushing out the ATF, 'cause that's the only fluid level that has dropped at all. (haha).

I dropped it off this morning at the local tranny shop for it's annual service & to see what they think. I'll let you know.

Mark