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Sweet to the taste, and has a characteristic sweet smell that makes it hard to mistake it for anything else. And it would be hard to call it oil, since it feels like sticky sugary water. I bet Karl knows antifreeze when he encounters it. And it's never clear, always shows some color, usually neon green.
As to brake fluid/hydraulic clutch fluid, I've never tasted it to try and get the taste but it DOES have a character that's easy to test - - put a bit on the mucous membrane of your lips and it will sting, like alcohol.
If this is a five-speed, could fluid be leaking not from clutch master cylinder but from feed line leading to master cylinder from reservoir?
Might the seller have topped up the brake reservoir just before the sale, and spilled enough over that it's still dripping?
Karl, your best bet is get a good bright light and do some close examination. If you want, pressure wash the area at a self-serve carwash, making sure not to damage anything with too-strong blasts of water. Then once it's clean and dry it's easier to judge what's leaking from where.
I've heard of spraying a cleaned area with spray foot powder, which will then show on its surface a clear record of the path of anything leaking.
Anyways, Karl, your most likely thing to be leaking is your "front" main oil seal, at the back of the engine. Doesn't need fixing if not severe but may ruin crank pulley rubber so keep an eye on it.
About equally likely to be leaking, at every possible point, is the power steering system, often not so much as to be a problem except for need to top up and making a mess.
Also possible leak points are oil or coolant out of head gasket, and oil past valve cover gasket. Or coolant out of coolant reservoir, if head gasket is going to point it's getting exhaust pressure into coolant.
I don't think I've ever heard of AC leaking liquid lubricant in any noticeable way, and if it were, out goes refrigerant totally. Does lose lube, but shows up where flung by pulley, picking up road dust on its surface, not as liquid.
Sweet looking ride by the way.
posted by 71.173.65...
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