Red puddle of doom...

[MikeKey]

Drove out of my parking space to go round the corner and pick up all the oil and whatnot for my service tomorrow from the lock up. When I got back I noticed an ominous red puddle towards the back of my space /Grrr

I don't think it can have been there long because I've been quite vigilant about checking since fitting the Evo 9 diff, but there does seem to be a fair bit of it :( I watched for a while and there's no visible dripping, and it's not immediately obvious where it's coming from either. I'd need to get it up on stands to take a proper look, so I guess that's something else to check out tomorrow :inquisiti

Let's hope it's nothing serious, but as it's most unlikely to be the driveshaft seal letting out that much ATF all of a sudden, I can't really see it being anything but :(

Wish me luck...

[peter thomson]

Hope it's an easy fix Mike

[MikeKey]

I'm wondering if it's down to it not having been bled yet and/or me having been driving round with the AYC relay pulled. I was always going to get the bleed done at this service because I had no luck with it myself, but I'm wondering now if it's really ballsed something up.
Both halves of the AYC were filled with the right fluids though, so I can't see why this would cause a problem?

[Wodjno]

Is the inspection hatch nice and tight ? And was gunked up with plenty sealent before it was fitted.. ?

[MikeKey]

The inspection hatch is for the diff side of the AYC unit, so would be leaking oil if it was loose, not ATF. Good thought though.

[bradc]

From the middle rear or drivers side rear? I once had mine leave a red puddle on the ground on the drivers side rear after filling up the resevoir in the boot a little bit too full and the atf leaked out somewhere.

[Wodjno]

The inspection hatch is for the diff side of the AYC unit, so would be leaking oil if it was loose, not ATF. Good thought though.

Doh ! /pan

Not reding properly :(

Sorry /pan

[MikeKey]

From the middle rear or drivers side rear? I once had mine leave a red puddle on the ground on the drivers side rear after filling up the resevoir in the boot a little bit too full and the atf leaked out somewhere.

It's funny you mention that cos I did have a spill when I was trying to do the bleed. I never saw it drip out the bottom of the car so figured it was trapped somewhere or it wasn't as much as I thought. It has been raining a fair bit today, so maybe some water has collected with it and it's sloshed out when I parked up. I hope!

Dammit, I'm not gonna sleep til I've had a look, I'm off downstairs to get my jack and axle stands... /Grrr

[MikeKey]

Interesting.

The good news is the seals, filler plugs and bleed nipples are all fine, so at least the important bits of the diff are still full of fluids.

What I found was that fluid had been leaking from one of the AYC pipes right where it bolts into the diff. It has been oozing out between the pipe and the nut, so it's only the hydraulic circuit that will have been affected, and that wasn't in use anyway.

What's interesting is that the nut was done all the way up, just like the one next to it, and was still tight.

I'd assumed that pulling the AYC relay would kill the whole AYC system, but now I'm wondering if the AYC pump runs despite this and has somehow overpressurised the system. It's be interesting to know what pulling that AYC relay actually does!

Anyway, at least it's nothing major. That was all going to be sorted out tomorrow anyway, so I can sleep easy :D