Over the winter I had an engine built, LSD installed, rebuilt the tranny, put in a new Spec racing clutch, resurfaced the fly wheel, etc. When the engine / tranny was mated, a new Honda main seal was used. About a month ago, I noticed that there was a drip or two that built up below the tranny housing. I just figured it was just a very, very minor leak somewhere. I tried to locate the source, but couldn’t find it. I went ahead and did a race weekend and everything felt fine so I didn’t think too much of it. A few days ago I loaded the car onto the trailer and the clutch just didn’t feel right. It now feels like it is beginning to slip just a tiny a bit and shifting doesn’t feel right. If I put into 5th gear and go about 30 mph then press the gas to the floor, the clutch doesn’t slip. Last night I spent a good amount of time trying to locate the leak source, but still couldn’t identify it. Of course I have a racing coming up on Labor Day weekend, so I need to figure something out.

The guy who put everything together is very ****, so I’m confident things were put together properly. I spoke to him about the problem after he looked at it, but he was not sure what it could be without pulling the tranny off. He doubts it is the main seal, but who knows. Maybe the leak from somewhere else and dripping in? At this point I’m not sure what to do and if the car will make it though the upcoming race assuming I can’t get this resolved. Someone mentioned that spraying some brake fluid on the fly wheel from where the timing is done may help take some of the oil that we’re assuming is on it. Could spraying brake fluid on it hurt anything? I really can't afford to spent much more on the car right now. Any ideas?

 

Input shaft seal or Main seal - is it oil, or tranny fluid leaking? If its coming from the clutch cover, then its only one of two things, and both require taking the tranny off.

 

Yup, it is coming from the clutch cover. I'm really not sure if it is oil or tranny fluid. When the fluids are new, they look the same to me. Is there any easy way to tell?

Thanks RJ.

 

Tranny fluid has a distinct smell to it....

 

I know this is a dumb question, but what is the input shaft seal? Where is it located?

 

Behind the release bearing on the clutch side of the transmission case. I'm pretty sure you need to dissasemble the tranny to replace it, since it gets tapped in under the input shaft bearing but I could be wrong about that. With the input shaft and main seals, its not hard to warp them a bit if you dont install them with a seal driver, and tap them in with a drift/hammer.

 

a leaky distrubtor seal killed the clutch on the crx, and its easy to check.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by smokin rubber &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a leaky distrubtor seal killed the clutch on the crx, and its easy to check.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Let me get this right....a leaky seal in your dizzy cause clutch failure???? Care to explain? I was having some distributor problems, and am now experiencing some high engine load hesitation...I was thinking it was spark related, but am now thinking it might be clutch failure. TIA

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spankjelly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Let me get this right....a leaky seal in your dizzy cause clutch failure????</TD></TR></TABLE>

Distributor o-ring leaks down into the bell housing - although I dont think that would leak enough to cause a problem with the clutch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spankjelly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I was having some distributor problems, and am now experiencing some high engine load hesitation</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is it a new problem? Could be engine management related.... worn out dizzy bearing or failing coil.

 

You said brake fluid but I assume you meant brake cleaner. You damn sure don't want to spray brake fluid in there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tranny fluid has a distinct smell to it.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not always, the EF Civic can use motor oil for trans fluid. 10w30 I think, it's been a while since I switched to Redline.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by STS_Underdog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Not always, the EF Civic can use motor oil for trans fluid. 10w30 I think, it's been a while since I switched to Redline.</TD></TR></TABLE>

At the time the car was produced, yes - however oil formulations have changed slightly and now honda recommends using MTF

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Distributor o-ring leaks down into the bell housing - although I dont think that would leak enough to cause a problem with the clutch



Is it a new problem? Could be engine management related.... worn out dizzy bearing or failing coil.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Could be engine management, but I have am freshly tuned (doesn't mean thats not the problem though, especially at low rpm's) I have a BRAND NEW dizzy with about 200 miles on it, so i doubt thats the problem.

 

In a pinch, you can try Coke to remove oil from a clutch that is saturated with oil... May not be easy to put on but worked well on VWs and Fiestas with oiled clutches to get through a race.