Fluid leak

[Belgian951]

Took the 951 out for a short drive after weeks of standing still.

As expected, I'm losing some fluid. It's been leaking from somewhere even after I changed a cracked 94410624103 and 94410623906 for good measure. Normally it's very obvious it was a coolant leak since the fluid was pink, and after a while my coolant reservoir was getting lower.

The previous drive, I topped it back up.


Today, I parked my car, and went to open my garage. When I parked it inside, I noticed a trail of fluid. This time it seemed to be coolant but with oil mixed in it. Not what I want to see, I'm sure.

Some observations:

- I walked back throughout the underground garage and even the street, no trail of any fluid loss there. Only when I drove into the garage (last 2 meters).
- The fluid dripped from right on the front of the middle underbody protective plate (black plastic one with various holes in it). It's on the left side (standing in front of the hood and looking at the car).
- It dripped kinda "gluey", viscosity seemed thicker than coolant
- Can't see anything leaking from above
- Coolant is pretty much new, not even 200 km on it.
- Coolant reservoir: didn't open it yet, but I'm pretty sure it's oil free - looked clean from outside (expansion tank is brand new so clear)
- Oil temps during drive OK
- Coolant temps during drive OK, although I did notice a slight decrease just as I drove it a bit harder
- It was probably a 10 km drive.
- I know the power steering fluid reservoir hose has a leak, but it's at the reservoir clamp, couldn't see a drop there


Hope someone has an idea of the source.

p951leak (2).jpeg (310.81 KiB) Viewed 1418 times

p951leak (1).jpeg (424.69 KiB) Viewed 1418 times

[barnwerks]

Looks like steering fluid to me. When the steering rack shaft seal leaks, it can accumulate in the bellows. When turning the bellows are compressed and can release the fluid being stored.

[Tom]

Looks like steering fluid to me. When the steering rack shaft seal leaks, it can accumulate in the bellows. When turning the bellows are compressed and can release the fluid being stored.

Yeah, sure does not look like coolant. It's either power steering fluid or engine oil. Dip your finger in it and wipe it on w white piece of paper. If red, it's power steering most likely. If honey gold, it's probably oil. A leak that big will probably be pretty obvious once you are able to investigate under the hood... Sorry about that.

[Belgian951]

I'll check the towel I used to wipe the floor and get back to you. Power steering fluid makes sense as I know the hose is damaged at the PS reservoir clamp. Maybe the hose is also damaged in a lower section, or as barnwerks said, maybe its the steering rack shaft.

It seems the leak was also in the steering rack area as far as I can tell.

[Belgian951]

Looks like steering fluid to me. When the steering rack shaft seal leaks, it can accumulate in the bellows. When turning the bellows are compressed and can release the fluid being stored.

Yeah, sure does not look like coolant. It's either power steering fluid or engine oil. Dip your finger in it and wipe it on w white piece of paper. If red, it's power steering most likely. If honey gold, it's probably oil. A leak that big will probably be pretty obvious once you are able to investigate under the hood... Sorry about that.

It's hard to see because I used newspapers and a towel to clean it up, but it doesn't look red to me. More yellowish. That said when it was on the floor, it definitely was red and gooey.

I forgot to check the oil level, but the coolant level was still near max (cold car). The powersteering fluid reservoir was almost empty (I cleaned the lid with the dipstick off and refitted the lid, then checked again and the little dipstick was dry as a bone, so the fluid didn't touch the dipstick.)

So I'm still leaning towards the steering fluid. There is also a puddle of the stuff on the front black plastic protection plate (https://www.rosepassion.com/en/diagrams ... 6701-35378), right near the first row hole (nearest to front of the car) on the passenger side. This hole sits roughly under the powersteering lines/pump afaik.

[Belgian951]

Update after driving again after a long time... well pretty much since I posted this thread

Again, after parking, I noticed a trail of fluids. This time, it has definitely some oil in it (or water in oil?). The source is still passenger side of the car, if you look under the car, you can see fluid dripping. Can't see anything from above. Wondering if the oil means the problem is worsening.

Some pics:

WhatsApp Image 2025-04-06 at 18.09.32 (1).jpeg (373.2 KiB) Viewed 1048 times

WhatsApp Image 2025-04-06 at 18.09.32 (2).jpeg (340.8 KiB) Viewed 1048 times

WhatsApp Image 2025-04-06 at 18.09.32.jpeg (377.77 KiB) Viewed 1048 times

WhatsApp Image 2025-04-06 at 18.09.31.jpeg (269.37 KiB) Viewed 1048 times

[Tom]

Ouch, sorry about that. I leak that big can't be all that hard to find I'd think... Have you put it on jack stands and looked under there while running? Might be pretty obvious where it's coming from. If it's engine oil and coolant, maybe the oil filter/thermostat housing gasket?

[Belgian951]

Ouch, sorry about that. I leak that big can't be all that hard to find I'd think... Have you put it on jack stands and looked under there while running? Might be pretty obvious where it's coming from. If it's engine oil and coolant, maybe the oil filter/thermostat housing gasket?

No, I haven't yet. Beginner question, but should I put it on 4 jack stands or just the front 2 for this? Never had a car run on jack stands before.

I guess the thermostat could be the culprit... although I did the waterpump, including the thermostat and its gasket as the first job on this car (now a year or 2 ago). Haven't ran 1K kilometres on it since. Although the thermostat did weep a bit after replacement... I tightened it beyond spec so it would stop leaking. Maybe I cracked it?

[Darwin]

That much fluid loss would definitly be evident on whatever comodity it is in your vehicle. Did you check all the fluid levels?

[Belgian951]

That much fluid loss would definitly be evident on whatever comodity it is in your vehicle. Did you check all the fluid levels?

I just checked the fluids on the car:

- Coolant seemingly disappeared
- Oil is a bit low
- Power steering reservoir almost empty, you can see the little stalk in the middle on the bottom of the reservoir

-> When I opened the coolant reservoir, I could hear a dribble start. I closed it again, then looked for a drip. There was one under the water pump area. I opened the coolant reservoir again and could see a dribble from under the hose clamp that clamps the big water pump hose to the water pump.

-> Because the car is empty of coolant and low on oil, I didn't start the car

=> The question is now, will a tightening of the clamp solve my leak, or is there a crack in the hose. It's an original hose so I'm thinking there's a good chance there's some damage.

=> Another question is whether the power steering fluid is also actively leaking
=> A more troubling question is whether the low oil level is relevant (it's just shy of the lowest mark when tested cold) to this problem. The car does run rich, maybe it's burning a bit of oil. There is oil in the intercooler pipes too.

=> The car ran for +- 100 km and didn't overheat. There was coolant in the car after I parked (but it was also leaking, as evident from the latest photos). My fear is that my instrument cluster isn't trustworthy. The temp gauge seemingly worked, but I'm having troubles with the fuel gauge which is on the same instrument (see my other thread).