A Leak. Not oil though...a little help..

[Teighlor O']

I know its not oil, because i just changed the oil, its full, nice and clean, and the level hasnt gone down at all. This oil is reeeally black. It looks very similar to the nasty power steering fluid i have in my PS resevoir, but that isnt going down either. Its a pretty good amount of leakage, this has been going on for about 2 days. the drip is actually dripping from the lowest point on the flywheel case, although i assume its not actually coming from in there, but im having a really hard time finding the leak. Kinda worried its Gear oil, so im not driving it right now.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[ps2375]

What does it smell like? Gear lube has a distinct odor.

[Teighlor O']

What does it smell like? Gear lube has a distinct odor.

I smelled it last night, but i cant remember now, and im at work.... Def doesnt smell like engine oil, i do remember that.

[ps2375]

Well, I have to correct myself, synthetic gear lube may not have the "distinct odor" of dino gear lube. It could be gear lube, I would check the level and condition of the gear lube.

[Teighlor O']

Well, I have to correct myself, synthetic gear lube may not have the "distinct odor" of dino gear lube. It could be gear lube, I would check the level and condition of the gear lube.

Yeah regular gear oil has that "grease" kinda smell to it, am i right? And honestly, i have no idea what the previous owner put in there. The time ive owned this car has been nothing but un doing all the dumb shart that the PO has done to it.

[ps2375]

It has a stink like nothing else. That's how I look at it.

[Teighlor O']

It has a stink like nothing else. That's how I look at it.

Haha ok, gotcha...

[scirocconaut]

If it smells like battery acid and drips clear or blackish it could be coming from your ignition coil

I know because it happened to me before and I didn't know what the hell it was coming from

I also had on another occasion a oil temp sensor in the head that leaked only at speeds over 50 (the mess covered the leak each time it was cleaned and at low speeds wouldnt show )

[Teighlor O']

Think it might be a rear main seal....F**K.

[MEGA 16v GLI]

Think it might be a rear main seal....F**K.

Have you checked the gear oil? you just take out that 17mm plug on the drivers side front wheel. Make sure the car is on a level surface and fill gear oil into the trans until it starts overflowing.

I usually take off the front driver wheel then take the plug out then put the wheel back on and fill it up.

Its normal for a little bit of gear oil to leak around the final drive (CV axles).

[Teighlor O']

Yep, rear main seal. So what all should i do while im doing the seal???

[lnoriel]

Yep, rear main seal. So what all should i do while im doing the seal???

You're going to have to separate the trans and the engine. So might as well explore doing a clutch job and resurface the flywheel since they're going to be out anyways.

You may also want to examine the trans seals as well as the output flange seals.

[Teighlor O']

You're going to have to separate the trans and the engine. So might as well explore doing a clutch job and resurface the flywheel since they're going to be out anyways.

You may also want to examine the trans seals as well as the output flange seals.

Yeah i had planned on doing the clutch for sure.. So i dont have to pull the engine for this job, just drop the trans, correct?

[kaltblutig]

Correct.