Hey guys bought a battery and started up my FD3S after its been sitting for about 2 years. It leaked some fluid, not sure if it's transmission or power steering. Can anyone help me identify?

 

Well it would help for a better reference but it appears to be from the front passenger (right) side of the engine. It also looks to have a reddish hue/color. If your car is an auto, then my guess is an auto-trans cooler line, coupler or the cooler itself...all of which is in that area. PS is on the other side (left) of the engine.
Not sure what’s going on with the radiator and fans and lack of a belly-pan...guessing it’s due to the intercooler location.

 

I believe the pan was removed due to the radiator/intercooler setup. This car was built by FAM Speed. Their website calls it a dividing cooling system. It's a RHD JDM M/T.

 

Then I think a jack, jack stands, flashlight and a towel or rag are in your future.
Hoping that IS PS fluid and not oil. Other than oil cooler line (if dual oil cooler equipped) the things that come to mind in that area is the turbo, turbo supply and return lines, the oil pan, front cover, OMP and OMP lines.

 

Unfortunately the storage spot it sits in doesn't allow it to be worked on. But I might be able to sneak something in on the weekend.

 

put a sheet of cardboard under the car between the front wheels..
If and when it leaks it will give you a good idea of where it is leaking.

 

OMP & turbo oil feed fitting are around there too

Edit : didn't realize it was already mention

 

I can try to do that. My mechanic friend said to try a slight taste test to see if it's sweet or not, not sure if I want to try it.

 

They make the fluids in different colors to easily establish what is leaking..Oil is brown/black,antifreeze is green..Trans fluid is Red..and gear oil just stinks like hell so that is definitely easy to tell what it is.
Hey,go ahead and taste some oil if ya want but antifreeze will kill you.

 

Yeah, I didn't really have any intention of trying the fluid. I started it up again and was able to get a video. Couldn't really pin point the source but it appeared it might be coming from the power steering line (I think). Didn't see a drop of the fluid level in the p/s tank though.
Here's a video.

 

Well it’s definitely not an oil leak. Since it’s not an auto, it’s a PS leak. A pretty good one too.

 

Do you think I could use a USA parts catalog to try and order a hose from my local Japanese Mazda dealer?

 

Not sure. No experience but I would think the part numbers would be the same. Do you know which hose/line you need?

 

I have a fairly good idea of which hose it is. I'll be checking it out tomorrow again and trying to pull it to take to the Mazda dealer to try and get a quote for a replacement and buy one from them if it's cheap enough.

 

Dealer and Cheap are 2 words seldom found together!

 

If you have a RHD , you won't be able to find the hose that connect the rack to the snake shape tube .

As a matter effect , nothing PS related because the system is different in RHD. (Except the pump).

 

Edit : I think I have the hose your looking for, I will confirm later today.

 

Here is a diagram of the PS system,
The culprit might be the hose at 32-683A.
Or maybe the clamp ? Or maybe the fittings around that area, there is 4 of them there.


Hope this help.

M.

 

I was able to pull the hose about 5 hours ago. Just got back ordering a new one from the dealer. The hose was indeed 32-683A. It dry rotted at the bend. New hose and two clamps only cost me about $21. Gotta go back on Tuesday to pick up the parts.

 

Probably the cheapest FD fix ever lol

 

Better carefully check all hoses, etc., for similar deterioration.

Maybe get a coolant system pressure test.

 

I'll look into it once I get the car back from the body shop.

 

Air intake system smoke test
Compression test
Fuel pressure check
Ask the shop to "run codes" (maybe not applicable if running an after market "ecu".)

Collectively those tests should run about $200.

They will give you a pretty good idea of what else needs attention.

 

I'm not quite sure what all the shop is capable of, but I can check.

 

it looks like steering oil