Hydraulic Flooding Carpet on Drivers Side? What could this be.... (1 Viewer)

[eLX470]

Hey All,

I have a 1998 LX470 with about 380K miles on the clock. Been having alot of issues lately with the cold in GA. Parked the car and over the course of a few days, came back to notice a leak of hydraulic fluid next the to drivers side wheel, directly beneath a drain hole from the cabin. I assumed that it was a line, but as I investigated further came upon this sticky and gross situation:

As you can see, there is hydraulic fluid running down through the passenger door on the driver side, with the carpet soaked as the fluid followed the rail. I checked underneath the dash to cofirm that it is not the brake master or anything from the dash; it seemed to come from underneath the carpet somewhere on the drivers side footwell nearer the seat.

Does anyone have any idea what this might be or where I can start to look? Based on the smell it seems that it is hydraulic fluid and not brake fluid, so I am assuming it is AHC, but do not know where to start.

Any and all advice or direction is appreciated; really don't know how serious this is. In any case, I am willing to make a switch in terms of suspension if this is not repairable.

Best,

Ernest

 

[eLX470]

I forgot to mention that the fluid has run along the lines and cables you see in the images toward the back seats on the driver side, also making the carpets completely soaked.

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Subscribed. Wow that sucks. I don’t have AHC in my 2000 LC so cannot help, I do have it in the GX tho...

 

[eLX470]

Subscribed. Wow that sucks. I don’t have AHC in my 2000 LC so cannot help, I do have it in the GX tho...

Yep I am hoping that it isnt anything too crazy.... but we will see

 

[nukegoat]

Are you low on AHC fluid?

 

[Spike555]

I am assuming you check all the fluid levels.
I have seen master cylinders leak into the cabin like this.
I have also seen transmission fluid travel up the speedo cable, leak out the back of the instrument cluster and leak onto the floor under the dash.
Checking fluid levels will tell you exactly what it is, with that much fluid something is going to be low.

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Or he spilled some rancid olive oil.

 

[morganism]

my bet is master cyl too, didn't know about the speedo cable....

 

[Dockofthebay]

Subbed...

 

[Spike555]

my bet is master cyl too, didn't know about the speedo cable....

I'm NOT saying that the speedo cable is possible on his truck, I'm saying I have seen it happen on other vehicles and he needs to check all his fluids. That is where the answer lies.

 

[saucebox]

None of your AHC system goes inside the cab, and everything on the driver’s side of the system comes from underneath the truck.

If everything is on the driver’s side then I think you should look *really* hard at the brake master. With your carpet pulled back and the current mess cleaned up, I think you’ll find that doing a lot of brake work—like pumping the brakes a bunch—will create more problems. Hope it’s not that though, good luck.

 

[FxFormat]

I can't imagine it being anything but brake fluid, unless rain water got down there and mix it some stank to form that gooey discolored liquid. Sup with that yellow fuse?

 

[gatormark91]

Brake fluid would eat the paint. If the paint is OK, it's not brake fluid.

 

[eLX470]

Brake fluid would eat the paint. If the paint is OK, it's not brake fluid.

Update on this as you all have been waiting:

Checked to see what it could be and where it came from. Turns out the first guess was the best guess, as it was actually a turned over bottle of oil sitting in my trunk, my girlfriend had hauled a variety of random things around and punctured a hole in the bottom of the 5 quart container of oil. This caused the oil to slowly seep into and underneath the carpet, causing it to pool to the lowest point along the drivers side.

I guess the nice thing about the whole situation is that I don't have to replace my abhorrently expensive brake master and pressure canister.

Believe it or not, definitely feel like an idiot, but hey, at least renting a carpet extraction machine is cheaper than all other nightmare scenarios.

Also going to be switching to a conversion kit and getting rid of the AHC completely. This was too much of a (fake) scare and made me realize that I should just get rid of a potential headache. At 380K miles and counting, its the thing that I want to get rid of most. Going to be doing some research on the forum!

 

[saucebox]

Nice!

 

[ranma21]

Update on this as you all have been waiting:

Checked to see what it could be and where it came from. Turns out the first guess was the best guess, as it was actually a turned over bottle of oil sitting in my trunk, my girlfriend had hauled a variety of random things around and punctured a hole in the bottom of the 5 quart container of oil. This caused the oil to slowly seep into and underneath the carpet, causing it to pool to the lowest point along the drivers side.

I guess the nice thing about the whole situation is that I don't have to replace my abhorrently expensive brake master and pressure canister.

Believe it or not, definitely feel like an idiot, but hey, at least renting a carpet extraction machine is cheaper than all other nightmare scenarios.

Also going to be switching to a conversion kit and getting rid of the AHC completely. This was too much of a (fake) scare and made me realize that I should just get rid of a potential headache. At 380K miles and counting, its the thing that I want to get rid of most. Going to be doing some research on the forum!

Lol glad it was just that!

 

[bentonrover]

Wow is that the original AHC setup?

 

[eLX470]

Wow is that the original AHC setup?

Yes! It made it all the way to 380K... and to be honest just now feeling the softness of the suspension. The rig is a testament to over engineering!

 

[bentonrover]

Damn I see. Cheers