[T3] Leak under front driver side

Dave Hall dave at hallvw.clara.co.uk
Sat Mar 16 05:16:28 PDT 2013


That seal is the lower mounting rubber for the front beam (left side).
There's probably an A after the number.

A small pancake sounds a lot for oil separating from grease, but oil spreads
quite well.

If fluid is leaking from the back of the master cylinder, it goes directly
into the bulkhead which probably links to the frame horns.  I think there
are drains on the bottom of the mounting plate for the front beam. I would
expect a fair amount to have to leak out before it drips out at the front,
and one side of the reservoir would be noticeably lower if it went down as
far as the divider. 

Check whether the liquid will rinse off your fingers easily with water
(normal brake fluid) or stays there repelling the water (oil from grease).

It may be that there has been a leak into the frame in the past, and it is
finding its way out through the frame horn with being parked a bit
differently.  Maybe someone put some anti-corrosion fluid in there!

If the reservoir doesn't drop noticeably in use over a few weeks, it's
probably nothing to worry about.

Dave.
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
===================


-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Jacob Adam
Schroeder
Sent: 16 March 2013 05:22
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Leak under front driver side

Thanks for all the replies.  I crawled under the front end, checked the
brake fluid reservoir, and looked for leaks near the gas pedal.

The reservoir looked fine and the floor near the gas/brake pedal was dry.
Under the car, not enough of a leak had accumulated since I last wiped off
the area, but I pumped the brakes several times and did not see any
noticeable leaking.

I know very little about the front end (it is one of the few components I
have not yet touched on my car), but the leak appears to be around the seal
which has this number stamped on it: 311 705 263.  The seal itself looks
fine, but that is where the metal seems the most moist.  If I was having oil
separating from the grease in the front end, is this where it would leak?
Could a leak from this area cause a grease spot about the size of a small
pancake on my garage floor under this area?

I already replaced the fuel lines end-to-end.

I do plan on having my brakes worked over.  They were done about 8 years ago
(before I parked it) and the brakes feel solid, but I still plan to either
go over it myself or take it to a shop to get them done.  I'll post any
detailed brake-related questions in a new thread later.  Because the car was
not in ideal storage for those 8 years, the parts (at least on the
outside) are quite rusted.  It it just as "easy" to replace the brake lines
as it was the fuel lines?

Jacob


On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 6:14 PM, Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> On 16 Mar 2013 at 0:34, Dave Hall wrote:
>
> > Could it be the oil separating from the grease in the torsion arm
> bearings?
> > I think there are drain slots at the bottom of the axle where the 
> > halves join.
>
> If it's actully coming from the axle beam, this is certainly a 
> possibility.
>
> > If it's oil-based, it won't rinse off you finger under a tap, but 
> > normal brake fluid will (not silicone fluid though).
> > The brakes aren't very close to the axle beam, so I can't think of 
> > how  
> brake
> > fluid could appear there.
>
> If it's coming from the pan horns that grip the axle beam then I think 
> brake fluid can get there from the front footwell area.
>
> Checking for solubility in water is a good test.
>
> > Is it from the steering box?  The grease in there can also separate 
> > and dribble out over a time.
>
> Sure, that's another possibility.
>
> > With a simple fuel tank vent, there is a pipe that ends up near the 
> > left-hand axle beam end - could fuel fumes condense in cold 
> > conditions
> and
> > drip from there?
>
> Hmmm, seems unlikely since this is a '72, but who knows what's still 
> there of the OE vent system. Perhaps he should check in the trunk to 
> see if there's any sign of spillage or leakage that would have slowly 
> made its way to the ground.
>
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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