oldfella

Help out a Mustang noob. Looks like motor oil, could be manual trans lube. It's minor. I haven't had it on a lift yet to look for this specifically, but best I can tell with a flashlight and mirror is it only appears at the left transmission cross member mount, right below where a grayish/beige cable crosses over the mount. Weird. The left mount is wet and dirty under an otherwise clean car, and the cable seems to have oil/lube on it within a few inches of the that trans cross member mount. This cable then terminates at the transmission and does not apear to be leaking there, but I can't see around to behind where the cable terminates. I dont have any leaks at all anywhere else that I can determine. It's a very clean car.

Had it on a lift a week ago at my favorite shop for an oil change right after buying the car and driving it home 260 miles. Did not see a single leak, but this might have just escaped our view.

Thanks in advance.

mjr46

trans fluid in these t-5 or aod is red, both use dextron 3

oldfella

That's one big step towards an ID right there. The next time I can see a spot on the garage floor I'll get a white paper towel and blot me some up so I can be sure what color it is. Trans fluid is not out of the question at this point. When I first looked at it I almost thought it was brake fluid.

dawson1112

ITs pretty common for the speedo gear / VSS to leak at the oring or if someone took the clip out and didn't get it back in right. But it if looks like moter oil, I would drain the trans and make sure its not. These transmissions use ATF like mjr said. If some one put gear lube in it the trans wont last long, the gear lube plays havoc on the synchronizer friction rings, and also is to thick to get into the tight tolerances where lube is necessary on these.

oldfella

The rear gear was professionally changed to 3.73 by the previous owner and he did not change one of the speedo gears due to perceived difficulty (and the speedo only appears to be off by around 3 MPH.) I have the speedo gear kit. He seemed to be quite the meticulous guy. The car was/is immaculate and only 67k miles.

Point is I don't know he took that clip off or not.

dawson1112

If the oil is located at the mount where it connects to the frame, then it is in all likely hood break fluid, the brake lines run up inside of there.

oldfella

That's exactly where it is. The fluid I cleaned up looked more like brake fluid than anything else. My brake fluid reservoir is full. Is this indicative of a leaking master cylinder, or something else in the brake system? Thanks.

dawson1112

Its probly the brake line that runs along the frame rail right there, if it were the master cylinder youd see it up under the engine.

oldfella

This crossmember mount is right under the front floor board. I can't see how on earth that mount is soaked. I'll get it on a lift and look harder. Weird. At least it's not leaking much. If I was using my master cylinder as a gauge I would say it isn't leaking at all, but there is something leaving some drops and not all the time.

I'll pay much closer attention to it it the next time I wipe it up to get a positive ID on what kind of fluid it is, brake, trans, or engine oil, which I don't think it is.

dawson1112

well if the brake lines that go to the rear are seeping fluid over time it will soak that crossmember.