Red fluid drip?

[MrBill]

To start, I did search for this before posting my message but found nothing. Additionally, I'm not very mechanically inclined.

I've had a rear seal leak in my '94 EB 4x4 for years now. Because it only leaks a couple of drops onto the garage floor daily, I've never worried about it. But now I have a new leak! If you drew an imaginery line from the old rear seal drip to the center of the rear bumper, along this line about a foot from the rear seal drip there is now a small puddle of red fluid. This fluid has about the same consistency of the rear seal drip, so it may be some kind of oil. But the oil drip is a carmel color, whereas this new drip is deep red. There are only 1/2 dozen drops or so in a 12-hour period, so I don't think this is a serious problem. OTOH I may be wrong!

What is causing this drip? And is this a problem that needs to be fixed by Ford service or is there something simple I can do to fix it myself?

TIA, Bill

 

[sk1er17]

Sounds like tranny fluid. Get under there with a flashlight and look at the rear of the tranny where the driveshaft connects- it may be leaking from there.

Keep an eye on your tranny fluid level, you dont want that dropping. Start your car, shift if through the gears (with your foot on the brake) and put your car back in park, leave the car running and check your tranny fluid dipstick.

 

[RiverRat]

Like sk1er17 said I bet it is ATF.

To help verify this put a white paper towel down on the ground so you can see what color the fluid is.

Then wipe some ATF off of the dipstick and compare the two. If they match then you can be pretty sure that is what it is.

Also, the leak could be from the transfer case.

Check the fluid color in the transfer case. See which one is a match.

 

[MrBill]

There's good news and bad news: The bad news is that I checked the tranny fluid and the color is the same, so it looks like my tranny fluid is leaking. The good news is that I checked the level and it was still on the full line, so there's no emergency about getting the leak fixed. I'll call the local Ford Service Center and make an appointment to have the work done. If this turns out to be a major effort, I'll get the rear seal leak fixed at the same time.

Thanks for the help guys - you're the greatest!

- Bill