mrvette

That fellow ther with the leaky tranny pan, reminded me of some basic trouble shooting techniques which are most helpful to all pro mechanics, and even us weekenders....so here goes....

any car will leak oil, just a matter of time, use, and age...and to a certain extent ....upkeep/maintenance...

so how to find the leak???

first off, and this gets NASTY....both in concept and execution....you GOTTA clean hell out of the entire under carriage of the car, MISS NOTHING!!!
when EVERYTHING from DPFI/air cleaner to DIFFERENTIAL is CLEAN as in bare assed naked metal then you are ready to take careful observations of where the leaks are coming from....

as a for instance, that poor guy with the tranny pan here, suffered enough....BUT it's MY belief he has a front seal leak of some sort, and it's following in a thin enough trail he can't spot it easy....why??? too much other crap and filth in the way, can't tell fresh new leaks from the old filth and buildup...and even IF the car is super clean, you gotta be really careful with following oil traces and think logically as to how it's going to fall and follow casting/gasket lines and structure formations, and eventually land on the deck....

this is obviously true for engine and tranny and differentials....

PIA to clean all that crap off, but eventually it's worth while....believe me,
been there done/seen that got the T shirt....

GENE

Jack71

I don't know where to begin cleaning my undercarriage. Its a friggin mess. When I bought the car, it had a rear main seal oil leak and a front seal leak in the original th400 trans. Both have been fixed but its still a mess.

I may just go over Costco and buy a crate of baby wipes. Baby wipes clean ANYTHING. You may laugh, but us with kids realize their power. Just think about their primary purpose. The underside of my vette is not that bad...

zwede

How about a steam cleaner?

Jughead

funny you should suggest that. My wife bought one of those smal portable ones....Steam Shark or something like that. It works great but on really greasy parts I'd spray on some gunk first. The steam that comes out is very, very hot. I did a portion of my firewall as a test (wasn't real greasy) and it worked great. It came with extensions to reash different lengths and a couple different tips. Was a great deal I thought for <$100. :thumbs:

Brettmc

How about a car wash? Put that hose under there and spray away. Get a significant other or friend to drive a trk with some ramps in the back.

Brett :thumbs:

JB

It's good to clean (though a good oil leak is about the best anti-rust inhibiter there is once it covers the entire underside of your car :D ). But if you just need to find a leak, use UV die tracer. The stuff's compatible with oil, tranny fluid, and power steering fluid. All you do is run the car enough to start it leaking, stop it immediately, and crawl under with a black light. Bingo, there's the leak. I pinned down a tranny leak to my speedo fitting in about 10 minutes that way.

JB

Freepop

I replaced my rear seal in my tranny and changed the filter and gasket. Turned out my leak it coming from the damn shift rod (auto) :mad

desi

:withstupid: How much is black light? Does it have to be dark to use it or will it work during daylight?

JB

I paid about $2 for a black light bulb at Lowe's & put it in a trouble light I already had. In the middle of the day inside my garage w/the garage door open, I could see it glowing just fine.

JB