itscone

Can anyone help me with this one

Cleaning the car today and noticed that the front of my oil sump was damp. However, no oil dripping and nothing on the deck.
Took a look under the bonnet and found a small amount of fluid lying on top of the engine block underneath the power steering pump and some lying on top of the cam cover below that.
Got under the car and what I think is happening is that the fluid is running down the cam cover and getting blown on to the front of the sump as I am driving.
The natural assumption is that this is power steering fluid, but as it is the same colour as my engine oil I cannot be sure of this. Could it be engine oil or is this unlikely on top of the engine?
Strange thing is now that I cleaned it off and took the car for a drive and nothing ... no more fluid has appeared. However it was only a 6 mile trip.

Any ideas ... I hate leaks

scoobycraig

it probably is ps fluid mate, their always leaking on the classics (Common fault) Just keep an eye on your levels

Slowboy Racing

Power steering fluid you can tell by the smell, it’s basically ATF fluid very different to engine oil. It could also be the front crankshaft oil seal

scoobyhep

Check the P/S pipes aswell. Same happened to me last week .
If you look down by the turbo heatsheild chimney you will see 2 pipes that are crimped to metal pipes, they run to the steering rack.

Check those. Tend to wear with time

itscone

The crank seal did cross my mind, that would explain fluid underneath the car, but it is unlikely that fluid would get pushed upwards onto the top of the engine.
Power steering pipes are all ok. So I am thinking that there is probably a slight leak on my power steering pump. However this does not now appear to be happening all the time as I have now used the car twice since I cleaned it up and no more has appeared yet

IMPORTPETE

my 95 wrx eactly same symptoms my mechanic friend told me its front cank seal but also mine is inner driveshaft seal onto gearbox so ordered them only thing is gotta take timing belt off whilst replacing so ordered new one of them 68 quid doh cos both seals are only 4.50 each

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

If its coming from the power steering, its more than likely to be the o-ring seal at the bottom of the reservior tank on top of the pump.

My MY93 had a leak down the front of the cambelt cover onto the headers and it dried up after the o-ring was replaced. I thought it was engine oil aswell as it was black, but nope it wasnt.

Very cheap fix thankfully.

djquest

iTrader: (8)

hi, i dont meant to hijack the thread, where is the best place to get the 0-ring seal. as i have the same problem on mine.

thanks

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Subaru dealer would be as easy as anywhere. Even they cant charge £10 for it I would hope. Didnt do the repair myself, so cant give any more advise than that

itscone

Thanks for all the advice fellas. Area still dry so will just keep an eye on things for now. Don't get it though as leak seems to have stopped for now.