Leak near driver's side rear tire

[pgackerman]

Howdy,

I have some reddish, oily fluid on my garage floor near the Fiero's driver side rear tire.  Slippery like oil with no smell.  I'd say it's oil except it's dark red and not under the engine.  Peeked under the car and didn't see anything.

Any ideas what's leaking and the fix?

BTW, '87 GT with a 5-speed manual.

Thanks,

Paul

[Fierofool]

Just a WAG, but it can't be automatic trans fluid since you previously said it's a 5-speed.
I'd say you have a K & N air filter.
I would say that the previous owner had just serviced the air filter.
I would say that he/she over-oiled it and didn't let it sit long enough before reinstalling.
I'd say that there is so much K & N oil that it's running down the air intake and dripping out through the water separator opening. 

If that isn't the problem, then the previous owner put cherry Kool-Aid in the clutch hydraulic system and you have a leak in the slave cylinder

[TopNotch]

Maybe somebody put ATF in the manual transmission. Check around it for leaks.

[pgackerman]

Me thinks you're right.  Looks like I have some work to do with the clutch slave cylinder.

 

[Roger]

Take it to a DIY car wash and spray the dickens out of the under and top side of the DS. Drive home and dust it with baby powder or Gold Bond powder.
You won't have any trouble locating the leak after that.

[Fierofool]

Have you found the source of the red stuff?  Get a big cardboard box and completely unfold it.  Roll the car up on it so that the wheels just do get fully onto the back edge.  Mark the position of the wheels with a marker and mark the location of center of the hub, and let the car sit for the day or overnight.  Back the car off the cardboard and the drip spot will help you to narrow down the area of the leak. 

[pgackerman]

Found the leak.  Haven't repaired it yet since:
 1. I was teaching my daughter to drive a manual transmission and might have had to replace the whole thing.
 2. Lost every gear but third and fourth.  Should I start a thread on fixing that?

BTW, daughter is driving great.  Can even get the car going in 3rd.  She didn't break the transmission.

[Fierofool]

Yes, might be a good idea to start a different thread on the transmission problems.  Makes searching easier for anyone looking for solutions.  But you can't leave this one until you tell us what the red fluid was and where it was coming from.  The fluid in itself might be a problem. 

[pgackerman]

The leak was from the 5-speed.  Can't recall the exact location.  From the drain hole we kept moving further and further up and toward the middle of the car.  The fluid itself was not the 5W30 the service manual recommends.  Most likely it's an upgraded performance fluid I read about.  The 5-speed will get 5W30 until we reseal it.  Maybe even after that...

[Fierofool]

If the teenager's going to be driving it, she should learn to work on it, too.  To entice her, tell her she can get free hot oil treatments for her hair during oil and filter changes or when pulling the transmission to do a clutch replacement.  My daughter got one while we were pulling a transmission to replace a clutch. 

[Fierofool]

The Getrag recommended fluid is Synchromesh Manual Transmission Fluid.  Pricey at GM dealers but the same fluid is available at AutoZone.  Bottled by Pennzoil, who manufactures it for GM.  About 1/1 to 1/3 the price of GM.  It takes about 2.65 quarts.

It sounds like someone put automatic transmission fluid into it.  That's a common happening since it's cheaper than Synchromesh fluid.  In the transmission there are no combustion blow-by contaminants, so conventional motor oils and high detergent transmission fluids aren't necessary.  Synchromesh has a different API rating for it's special application. 

[TopNotch]

If you can't find Synchromesh locally, you can get a very good synthetic version by mail from Amsoil.