I was out driving my ailing car yesterday and I felt some warm fluid hitting my foot by the accelerator. When I got home and I checked it out it felt like brake fluid which I assume is coming from the clutch master or slave cylinder. I checked the fluid level and it was right above the max so I'm not really sure if that's the issue or not.

 

Check the brake master.

 

I took a quick look at it when I got back home after the drive and nothing looked out of order. But I'm a novice with these sorts of things so I could've very easily missed something.

 

Could potentially also be the heater core or gear oil coming thru the speedo cable.

 

If the brakes/clutch work properly and the fluid levels look right, then perhaps it's not hydraulic fluid you're feeling.
Really, the only other option is coolant- leaking from the heater core or associated hoses.

 

It very well could be coolant, it's quite warm it hits my foot. I'll have to get a good look at it this week to determine if it's coolant or not. It's hard for me to pinpoint where it's coming from with the seat in the car, so I'll have to remove it to get get under the dash.

 

Clean and dry white paper towel. Find some wetness and blot the area. Itll at least tell ya the color

 

It looked clear when I wiped it off my foot, and it didn't feel like coolant. But I'll have to check again. It doesn't leak constantly either, just under acceleration it seems.

 

Depending on the mix you may not notice the color just wiping a bit off your foot. Do the towel test and report back to us ! :-)

 

Roger that, wilco

 

Its pretty obvious if a master is leaking, theyll be a trail, dust and dirt where the brake fluid was.

 

Looking at the master I thought it would be really obvious since it's all right out there to see, and like I said it looked how it should look. I talked to a buddy of mine that knows cars pretty damn well, not rotaries unfortunately, but he said it sounds like coolant to him. So I'm gonna try to get it to leak again today and get the color.

 

brake fluid rarely travels past the brake master, the clutch is way to the left, i would assume it is coolant. try and find the source with a flashlight.

 

One more possibility... Just a possibility, is gear oil from the Speedo cable. If the seal on the tranny has failed, it will make its way up into the cabin... And onto your leg. Ask me how I know lol.

Derp... Missed post #4.

 

sounds more like a medical condition..you can fix that easily though..."Depends" on how much fluid is there..lol..cough..

have you checked the coolant level at all to see if the Heater core is leaking?.I'm thinking only that fluid from the car would be "warm"...then again unless it is the speedo seal.

 

I haven't checked the level yet after I noticed the leak. I plan on doing that after work today.

 

Just a suggestion for future reference. . If you notice a leak of any kind the first thing you need to do is check your fluid levels.

If it is your core, and you cannot locate/afford another right away, you can simply bypass the core with a section of coolant hose. You'll obviously be living without heat , though.

 

unless the leak is large enough sometimes checking fluid levels doesn't give a definitive answer. your carpet would be stained to hell before you would know if it was gear oil or coolant, the brakes and clutch a little less so.

the easiest thing to do is to get dirty and throw your back out looking under the dash with a light.

first rule of not wasting time is to try and track down the source first, if that fails then use the less obvious approach.

 

Fair enough

 

I'm going to get under the dash this weekend and see if I can find the source. What has leaked is way too little to see a difference in the coolant level. And it's intermittent anyway so I can replicate it in my garage.

 

In case you need it, here is the seal from MazdaTrix.

Cart Price Check Part:60-8166-9958

 

condensation off the a/c ducts.

 

Would condensation of the a/c be really warm if it dripped on my foot?

 

That's not what it is.

 

cooling system pressure tester would be beneficial right now. that would tell you right away if and where it's coming from