What is this leaking from my car?????

[comquat1]

Just woke up today and found this trail of liquid coming out from underneath my 1991 nsx..... :-(
I'm not super technical and am wondering if it is something serious that I might need towing to get it fixed or if it's drivable or can i fix this all by my self?

Attached at pics that I just took. There is no smell that I can detect, just a somewhat yellowish liquid, more thick than runny.

 

[comquat1]

Sorry about the pic, it's located right inside my front driver's side wheel well. you can see the battery tie down I believe on a 45 degree angle on the right side of the pic. I'll put some more up, but I'm having a pain of a time keeping them to 800 x 600 since the pics I took were so huge.

If anyone can give me some direction I can send my full size pics over (about .5 meg each).
Thanks

 

[apapada]

can't tell much by just looking at it but my first reaction was that it looked like brake fluid.

 

[comquat1]

here's another, a little zoomed out.

 

[Briank]

From the location it is more then likely brake fluid. Did you experience an ABS failure? If that is not the case then there could be a leak in the pump or the associated high pressure plumbing going to the accumulator. It could be that the bleeder just needs to be tightened

 

[comquat1]

Ok, I'm looking in from the top now under the hood and see that the fluid is coming out of the modulator resevoir. I see that there is a min and a max line on this resevoir and i'm right up to the top of the cap (hence the reason it's on my garage floor I believe). The fluid (which I'm guessing now is brake fluid? correct?) has flowed down to where my pics show it leaving the car and hitting my concrete....

So is this a big thing? Can I simply take the cap off of the modulator resevoir and siphon out the excess fluid? Or is there a larger problem somewhere else that caused this build up in the resevoir itself? I'm looking at the online service manual and on page 19-61 it shows what i'm talking about

 

[apapada]

I'm no NSX expert yet, but here are some general thoughts which should apply to the NSX's brake system as well...

I can't see why you shouldn't able to cyphon out the excess brake fluid. The real question is why is there an excess of brake fluid to start with ? if you had a recent brake job that may explain it... whatever you do, wear adequate skin and eye protection as most brake fluids are highly toxic and corrosive (your skin and car paint will suffer if touched by the fluid). Most brake fluids are also hydrophile, which means they like to absorb moisture, which neutralizes the fluid. Hence, spray your engine bay with the waterhose before and after. Doing so will protect somewhat brake liquid in case you'd spill any on the paint.

hope this helps.

 

[comquat1]

Ok, I went out for a quick ride, now looking at the resevoir, it is now down to right between the min and max marks. My brakes work fine so now i'm puzzled.

But, i do have this concern. When i start the car up cold, it will squeel like a banshee. It's the sound that a car with belts makes when starting up cold. It will stop after less than a quarter mile going down the road, and i swear the sound is coming from the front of the car (so maybe it has to do with my problem?) Or do nsx's have that acessory belt squeel at cold start up too?

Also, I'm just wondering if my resevoir cap was not properly tighted, or just got loose. Because the fluid came out of the top of the resevoir.

Any help would be great, I don't really want to take it into the dealer around here at this time in the season b/c if anything major has to be done, by the time they get parts, I could be driving back in a snow storm, which i am not fond of doing.....

 

[nsxtasy]

Most brake fluids are also hydrophile, which means they like to absorb moisture

I believe the word you are looking for is hygroscopic, not hydrophile.

i do have this concern. When i start the car up cold, it will squeel like a banshee. It's the sound that a car with belts makes when starting up cold. It will stop after less than a quarter mile going down the road, and i swear the sound is coming from the front of the car (so maybe it has to do with my problem?) Or do nsx's have that acessory belt squeel at cold start up too?

Even without hearing it myself, I am almost certain that the sound you are describing is the ABS pump. That is normal, and is described here.

 

[comquat1]

Thanks Ken, that explains the loud squeel on start up.

I just went out for a longer drive and upon getting back, my modulator resevoir is a little bit under where it was when i left (so now it's just a little under halfway between max and min).
I'm going to go for a longer drive and see what comes about I think. I'm starting to wonder if that cap just got loose for some odd reason and allowed the warm fluid to overflow??? Which is weird, because i've never touched it in my life.
Either way, the car's going in to get service next spring to make it completely track ready, so i'll have it looked at more in depth then for sure.

Has anyone here experienced solenoid failure or anything more serious with their brakes other than master cylinders?

 

[apapada]

I believe the word you are looking for is hygroscopic, not hydrophile.

Touche !

Hydrophyle, for the greek roots "Hydwr" and "Phillos", refers to the water element itself, and in this case the fluid's affinity for water; readily absorbing or dissolving in WATER.

Hygroscopic, from the greek roots "Hygro" and "scopos" refers the observed faculty of a product for readily absorbing MOISTURE, as in the case of braking fluid from the atmosphere.

It's like talking about being fast and being quick. Both words have the same common topic, but express different notions.

imho, both words can be used in this context, although not 100% correct.

 

[comquat1]

Ok, still continuing my saga here....

Went out for a longer drive (40 miles or so) and had no problems whatsoever with the brakes. I even tried braking very hard to activate the abs and that works fine to my knowledge. Got back, popped the hood, and the modulator resevoir is right where it was when i left, a little under half full. No fluid outside of the resevoir at all. I'll look again in the morning though.

Another question, and maybe nsxtasy has the answer. When i was doing the hard braking activating the abs, my very last one before i went in for the night really seemed to work it. After that, the squeeling noise started up again. Is this a normal occurance after doing some hard stops?

 

[apapada]

Another question, and maybe nsxtasy has the answer. When i was doing the hard braking activating the abs, my very last one before i went in for the night really seemed to work it. After that, the squeeling noise started up again. Is this a normal occurance after doing some hard stops?

I'll save Ken from replying to this question for the x-llionth time. The answer is Yes.

Look at the search or FAQs and you'll find all the info there.

I even had this occurence not to long ago. I took care of it by flushing the system and going to a week-end long road course event.

 

[DocL]

I believe the word you are looking for is hygroscopic, not hydrophile. ...

Woohoo I get to correct Ken! The correct term is hydrophillic. With hydro=water, and -phillic=to love.

By the way, the name Phillip means horse lover.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

dnyhof,

You have the classic "stuck" ABS selonoid. A stuck selonoid will force pressure back into the reservoir and cause it to overflow. There is really not "too much" in there, so no need to drain some, in fact it is probably a little low now, or it may need to be bled.

If your ABS light is not on, and your pump is not chirping, then it means your stuck selonoid has probably "unstuck itself", actually fairly common. If you find the overflow/leak persisting, The ABS system should be "exercised", which basically means working them a few times repeatedly, repeat once a month.

I would get a can of "BrakeClean" , spray down the wet area and keep an eye on it. Probably it is OK now. Also check the fluid level. If the ABS system has not been flushed and bled in the last 12 months that is what should be done as a service procedure.

I would not replace any ABS parts yet, you may just be throwing away money.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[comquat1]

Thanks Larry! The best reply I could have hoped for.
Man, I love this board and all the support people give to it, I honestly was ready to drive the thing in to have it looked into further which would have been an easy $150 in labor I'm sure.
Thanks again!

So next year when I get it out, it's prolly a good idea to flush the brakes, and what else? Anything that's super important? You don't want to flush coolant very often do you?
I'm planning on tracking some next year, so I have to have all my bases covered.

 

[nsxtasy]

Woohoo I get to correct Ken! The correct term is hydrophillic. With hydro=water, and -phillic=to love.

No; as apapada pointed out, "hygroscopic" is the correct term, as applied to the ability for a fluid to accumulate moisture.

As apapada also pointed out, there is indeed another word for the ability to mix with water - but that word is "hydrophilic" (with one "L", not two).

 

[hlweyl]

I would get a can of "BrakeClean" , spray down the wet area and keep an eye on it. Probably it is OK now. Also check the fluid level. If the ABS system has not been flushed and bled in the last 12 months that is what should be done as a service procedure.

Great idea to completely clean the area. Make sure to keep the brake fluid and brake cleaner AWAY from your paint as they are both paintophillic.. i mean paintoscopic.. whatever, just don't get that stuff on your paint!

 

[ChopsJazz]

Wow, that's brake fluid? It looks incredibly corrosive!

 

[jlindy]

Hydrophyle, for the greek roots "Hydwr" and "Phillos", refers to the water element itself, and in this case the fluid's affinity for water; readily absorbing or dissolving in WATER.

Hygroscopic, from the greek roots "Hygro" and "scopos" refers the observed faculty of a product for readily absorbing MOISTURE, as in the case of braking fluid from the atmosphere.

It looks like apapada could be this guy.

 

[apapada]

It looks like apapada could be this guy.

Absolutely ! even "apapada" comes from greek ! I would love to explain myself but I'm sure it'd sould like greek to you...