I have a Small Leak..Drip Drip Where Be The Leak?

[Lowflight]

I have a one drip a day leak about 12 inches directly Southeast of the center of my driver front tire if you are standing at the rear of the car. It seems to me that it is too far to the left to be oil and it MIGHT be brake fluid. I put the car on jack stands and will be damned if I can find the source.

[tomtom72]

I would look at the brake M/C and the clutch M/C. You might have to put your hand at the bottom of the brake booster and feel if there is fluid runing from the M/C or you might see the fluid on the front of the booster just under the M/C's mounting flange. You looked at the lines on the M/C for leaks? The two "U" hard lines and the two s/s braided lines also could be a place to look.

If it is coming out of the clutch M/C the line might be the source because if the piston seal is leaking that shows up inside the car above the clutch pedal and winds up in the carpet.

If it's engine oil then I would check the Cam position sensor. That goes into an oil galley in the left head. If you look between plug #'s 5 & 7 you should see the electrical leads inside that plastic protective stuff, follow it back to the head and that's the cam sensor. It uses O-rings to keep the oil in the head. It's hard to see the sensor by looking straight down but the wire is easy to see. You will also see a small triangle like shield as you follow the wire toward the sensor...you might see some oil on that part, it's the sensor's heat shield...it's right above the exhaust manifold. If that's the leak you can order an A/C o-ring kit from NAPA, p/n 801207...I got that from another member & he says the O-rings in the kit are the same size as our sensor's o-rings and it's only about $5 for the kit.


Tom

[Lowflight]

Thanks Tom, that gives me a place to start. I am in no hurry, but I cranked it up for the first time in a few weeks yesterday and noticed the saturation of the paper towel that I have duct taped to the garage floor.

[1990 quasar blue]

Slave cylinder? Check the res. under the ecm and see if it's low.

[tomtom72]

Originally Posted by 1990 quasar blue

Slave cylinder? Check the res. under the ecm and see if it's low.

Harold I left this one out, sorry Check the slave for fluid drips!

Oh, btw, welcome back!

[A26B]

Originally Posted by Lowflight

I have a one drip a day leak about 12 inches directly Southeast of the center of my driver front tire if you are standing at the rear of the car. It seems to me that it is too far to the left to be oil and it MIGHT be brake fluid. I put the car on jack stands and will be damned if I can find the source.

You should be able to tell the difference between brake fluid & engine oil. If it's not brake fluid (which has been addressed very well by others) it could be the cam cover, which generally runs to the bottom/rear of the cover, or it could be the center stud of the exhaust header which normally smokes on startup (observe engine while it is warming up). When you have it on stands, start @ the bottom/rear of the cam cover looking for oil.

Both of these will put oil where you have indicated and both are rather troublesome to fix.

Good luck.

[Lowflight]

I have not checked yet...but there is no smoke and the paper towel I tape to the garage floor to catch the drip. The color of the fluid is brownish when disappated on the paper towel so it is probably oil. From reading this thread, I think the cam shaft position sensor will be the culprit. I know it is cheap, but is it easy to replace with jack stands? How much oil will come out while doing it?

[tomtom72]

I've never had mine out. Ya can't exactly see it because of the angle of the "V" and all the other stuff over at that side of the motor. You can see the one bolt that holds it in and if ya put a mirror down under it you can see it clearly when working from the top....no jacking up or stands for this one I don't think. Working from the plug r&r position, standing over the car..no way to see it from the bottom...JMHO...too much stuff in the way from under the motor on that side. Oh, the plug for the electrical lead is on top of the booster(on my 90 anyway) in a wiring bundle up against the fire wall.

If the car sat over night I doubt much oil is left in the head galley....figure a small plastic garbage bag with shop towels over it would soak up any spillage. I'd run the towels up against the exhaust & up to the level of the sensor...ya know sort of make a "U" out of the towels just to be sure I got all the spillage.

The sensor itself is like >$200.00 I think but the o-rings in the a/c kit are cheap. Lgaff is the member that used the a/c o-ring kit. Maybe shout at him & he'll share the skinny with ya.


Tom

[LGAFF]

Replacing the O-ring is easy, you first need to move the ARS system out of the way(if you have a 92 or newer) there are three bolts in the front wheel well that must be removed, along with a few that attach the ARS system to the inside of the fender well. There are then two hoses(nothing in them) attached to the ARS system that need to be disconnected from the side and bottom of the unit. Then use a 5/16th wrench to losen the one bolt that holds in the CAM position sensor. With a few wiggles it should come right out. If you have NAPA part 801207 there are 4 matching O-rings in the kit, the sensor is notched in 3/4 places for O-rins, so I put an extra o-ring on....no leaks so far. Job was fairly easy.....expect 4-5oz of oil to gush when removing the sensor.

Lgaff
1992 zr1

[LGAFF]

Picture of ARS...note bolts, and brace attaching in photo:

http://www.pnwzr1.net/PNWZR1.htm

http://www.pnwzr1.net/PNWZR1.htm

Fenderwell bolts:
http://www.pnwzr1.net/PNWZR1.htm


Here is photo of cam sensor, has shield over it, covered in oil/dirt in this photo. http://www.pnwzr1.net/Nick/Headers/Headers 035.jpg


Photos taken from PNW ZR1s, great website for assitance.

Lgaff
1992 ZR1 #234