Cat Man HHR

Could possibly put dye in the coolant and use a UV light to inspect the area ?

m_ridzon

Yes, that idea crossed my mind too. We'll see how things progress; I may have to do that.

Oldblue

Take into consideration, was the fan on?

m_ridzon

Yes it was. So that's a good point. It's possible some of the leakage from the oil cooler on the frontside was "blown" back. So if that were the case, my hope is that the residue completely dried up after a few hundred miles and I'll find everything tidy and dry this weekend when I'm under it again. I've stuck my head under the car in the parking lot each day after work and haven't found any puddles. And no visible drips on the chassis. So that's a plus! (fingers crossed)

m_ridzon

Quick update to close the loop...I couldn't definitively tell if the leak was engine oil, coolant, or trans fluid. I had a hunch though that it wasn't coolant. So I put UV dye in the engine oil and drove it a few thousand miles. I finally laid back under it last night to inspect things. Lo and behold, everything is bone dry! Woohoo! My guess is either that a seal had to "settle in" or there was residue laying in the bellhousing from when I installed the torque converter. The converter had leftover fluid in it, so tilting it from horizontal (on the workbench) to vertical (installation to the trans shaft) would likely cause some spill in the bell, and after installing to the trans shaft, there's no room to look or slip a rag in there to clean anything. So now, the drivetrain is completely leak-free after my rebuild.

Oldblue

If there is residue, a squirt of brake cleaner will clean that up!

m_ridzon

Not inside the bellhousing once you shove the torque converter on the input shaft. The converter consumes the entire diameter of the bell and leaves no room to make direct aim on oily residue that spilled during converter installation. Besides...anyone who has followed my journey since December knows that a chemical that didn't play well with rubber/plastic is what got me into this mess to begin with. So I tend to be much more judicious about my use of brake cleaner and other chemicals, only using them sparingly and carefully in the exact location where needed, perhaps on a moistened rag rather than nozzle spray. I learned that I don't blindly spray chemicals wherever I feel like it, with wild hopes of hitting the target and creating no collateral damage.

Oldblue

Well alrighty then. Case closed.

firemangeorge

Well, I use spray brake cleaner on stuff all the time. Generally keep 2-3 cans on the shelf in my shop.
I think m_ridzon is just a little gun shy from his other experience. Can't blame him because of that.
I wouldn't have a problem spraying down the inside of the bell housing with the TC in place. It would have rinsed a lot of that spillage out of there because the TC doesn't touch any part of the bell housing. And the spray dries up quick.
Besides, it would only be spraying on the external of the trans.

m_ridzon

I still use the chemicals and have an arsenal of them on my shop shelf. I'm just much more thoughtful about when and where I use them.