348 Oil Leak from Clutch Housing

Greetings All,
I just had my 1990 (19,557-mile) 348ts in for its annual service. All fluids changed & flushed. I drove the car around 60 miles on the 8th of May and it has been sitting ever since due to ankle surgery. Of course, the left foot. I will be able to drive next week!

I noticed a couple of spots and put a paper down to verify a fresh leak. Sure, enough the attached photos are what I found. The drips are coming from the silver grate four nuts you can see. This has never happened before. Any thoughts?
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Your choices are triples seals (most likely) or throw out bearing if OEM. The Hill replacement has a different design. I'd go with triple seals. This is not a difficult repair in your garage at home. Better with an assistant when reinstalling the pumpkin, however. Check the tech section of a primer of how to do this job. I've done mine, so I know it isn't that tough.

 

Ok, thank you. I will have to do some research on what a triple seal is. And how a throw out bearing will make leaks. Is this safe to drive?
I really appreciate your help on this!
Sincerely

 

The longer you drive without resolving this situation the higher the chances you can "wet" your clutch and the flywheel. Address it ASAP. There are three o-rings to change (very carefully) in the simpliest scenario or only the throwout bearing or a special version of this bearing and of the flange (from Hills Engeneering). You have to inspect the inside of the pumpkin and remove your clutch. Bumper, exhaust and you are there.

 

bumper does not need to come off. I do not know why everyone does it this way? Perhaps it's because that's the way ernie 1st did it?

 

Look, for the past two years I've had the occasional drop of fluid make its presence on the floor under the bell housing grate. The car is always garaged and it only happens when the weather is particularly hot and humid (which in Virginia is a fairly frequent summer occurrence). I never see even a drop in winter and maybe a total of 5-6 drops across the entire summer.

I drive my 348 often but when I don't for, say, a week I am more likely to see a drop of fluid under the bell housing - but only if the weather is hot and humid. Mind you, it has to be hot and humid: hot weather with low humidity doesn't seem to affect it. If I drove the car even more frequently I doubt I'd see any drops: it's as if the "leak" resets itself after being driven. Clutch and brake pedal action is smooth, effective and unchanged. I am almost beginning to think that the occasional drop of fluid is actually condensation that forms inside the bell housing under certain specific weather conditions and rolls down and out of the grate. My half-theory is that each time I drive the car the heat generated by the transmission burns out the moisture inside the bell housing and that's why it looks like it "resets itself" and no drops form until the next bout of hot and humid weather.

I am obviously keeping an eye on it but at this time I don't see a reason for action - yet.

 

Thank you for your insight. Yes, this just came out of nowhere! As I stated I just had all the fluids changed and drove it for a good hour and a half. 60 miles or so.
The car sat from the 8th of May and is still sitting. I won't be able to drive it until next week due to ankle surgery. Also, here in CT. we have had a couple of weeks of 90+ days of a heat wave. The car is and always garaged. I will take it for a short drive and see what happens.

 

Ok, do you think this leaking issue could cause it to be hard to get into first gear, even when the car is warmed up?

 

It is possible that, if it is a throwout bearing problem, depressing the pedal, it does not fully disengage the clutch. Hence the problem in 1st. But other gears work normally, I think.
It is possible that is a gear cable "problem": llittle lubrication or little misalignment.
A worn out sincromesh, with a problem only on 1st gear? Unlikely.
Try to change gearbox oil: this is the simpliest try.

 

One should note that brake fluid (used in the clutch system) evaporates <slowly> so you may be losing more than you think.

 

Thank you. I am currently using Red Line 75/90. What would you recommend

 

Castrol or Motul for example. I have nothing against the Redline, it is possible is an even better oil than these two aforementioned ones but I never used Redline (neither found it on the shelves here in Italy).

 

Thank you, I appreciate all the advice.

 

Follow the advice of post 4, it would be a shame to get your clutch wet over a very simple repair. One word of caution though, when installing the triple seals on to the input shaft be sure to use a sleeve to cover the splines so as not to put any small cuts on them. A plastic bag or soda bottle will work for this. Kent Moore tool company makes seal installers that are specially made for this, but unless you are working in a full time shop you would only use it once.

 

Yes, I am rethinking this. I have been placing newspaper at the leak spot and every day there are new drips. I am thinking not to drive it to the shop and call for the flatbed. This just started happening as it sat for nearly 2 months after all fluid change & break / clutch flush. Is it possible that shops fluid is a different brand and seeped through the seals?

 

Ok you have stated that it has stated after all fluids were changed. Ill assume you also mean gear oil. If so it will be the triple seals. The gearbox may have more oil in it now or a different grade which has accelerated what are a poor design and prone to leak area. If overfilled, it will come out from there even if new seals are installed. Don't leave it leaking for too long as it will get onto your clutch plates and cause premature clutch failure.

 

If the drips continue without the car being driven, it is more likely that it is the clutch (brake) fluid. Anyhow, it is easy to determine which fluid it is - put a plastic sheet under the dripping area; when you get new drips, take and smear some of the fluid between your fingers and then try to wash it off with just cold water; brake fluid will wash off rather easily, gear oil will not.

 

Leakage from the triple seals goes internally into the flywheel and dilutes the grease in the flywheel. If it is gear oil is either from the clutch shaft seal in the back of the throw out bearing sleeve housing or it is oozing out of the flywheel which is very easy to differentiate. The small O ring on the clutch shaft prevents triple seal leakage from backing up the shaft into the bell housing. A nearly impossible leakage path.

 

Thank you, I will try that. I am sure it is Brake / Clutch fluid as it seems to dry up and just leave a small stain on the paper.

 

Take a look at this thread. Also, very easy to discern between brake/clutch fluid and gear oil. The gear oil will be black, and has a strong (not very pleasant, to put it nicely) odour, while the clutch/brake will have almost no odour to it and is a tad orange (at least from my experience in this thread) and if I recall slightly sticky. In any case, go through this thread, and if you're lucky your issue will be the same as mine, a $1 or $2 seal that needed to be replaced.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/leak-underneath-clutch-help.296614/

 

I've done it both ways and it is definitely easier sans bumper.

 

Yes but you increase paint damage risk. LOL.... You should know better you actually care about how your Ferrari looks.