About 300 miles ago, I replaced the clutch in my 182k mile 2006 TL.
Work scope:
Removed flywheel, rear main oil seal cover. Replaced O-ring, replaced rear main seal, reinstalled with Hondabond.
New Luk flywheel, and clutch kit
New Acura axle seals for L&R axles
Misc new engine mounts
Transmission was serviced to full with Honda MTF per the maintenance manual (level car, filled until fluid ran out sight bolt).

On a shorter 20 minute drive today (speeds up to highway speeds), there seemed to be more mechanical-type noise that followed the speed of the car, not the speed of the engine.

I put the car up on jackstands in my garage, and it had leaked a decent amount of either transmission fluid or engine oil, with the underbody plastic air dam panel soaked in fluid/oil, and the LH part of the underside of the car covered in fluid/oil.

I pulled the access panel under the flywheel, and the flywheel looks clean, and oil free, and the tiny part of the bellhousing I can see appears clean. No oil slick/shine, etc.

There is a really small gap visible between the RH axle and the transmission housing, but it's not super fluid covered.

Fill plug, sight bolt/plug, and drain plug on transmission are still torqued.

I didn't change my engine oil during this work, it's got a few thousand miles on it, and this fluid/oil appears very clear and new.

Photos

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Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting on where this fluid/oil may be coming from?

Thanks team!

 

I can't find the Edit button, but I now think it may be engine oil leaking.

However, I'm still in the same position, trying to troubleshoot where the leak is coming from.

I leveled the car and checked the oil quantity and the dipstick indicated a low oil level.

I added oil, and ran the car on jackstands, and there is no huge apparent oil leak.

The rear mail seal (or the o-ring behind the cover) leaking seems to be the most likely culprit, but again, the tiny bit of the bellhousing I can access seems clean.
Everywhere else on the engine seems dry.

I haven't pulled the transmission sight bolt and tried to add fluid to make sure it's full, yet.

 

Is the level in the clutch fluid tank assembly OK?
How about checking the connections at the steering rack & PS reservoir level?

 

Thanks zeta for the input.

• Power steering fluid is full
• Clutch fluid is still full, and tank assembly looks solid

I opened the drain on the transmission, leveled the car, and just a few dribbles came out. It was previously serviced to full with Honda MTF.

So clearly, it's transmission fluid all over the underbody of the car.

I replaced both axle seals when I did the work.

The inside of the transmission bellhousing was black with oily residue when I pulled it originally. See photo of how it looked when I removed it.

I attributed this to leaking engine oil out the main seal; maybe the transmission input shaft seal was the culprit?

Anything else I should check?

 

The only way (that I can think of) tranny fluid can get into the bell housing area is the oil seal behind the clutch release fork is leaking. Sucks, cuz that means the tranny needs to get dropped again. Having done two clutch jobs myself, I know how much of a bitch that is.

 

Well, I serviced the transmission with Syncromesh, and ran it on jackstands. The RH axle seal is leaking like a sieve. A drop every few seconds once it warmed up a bit.

I replaced that seal with an OEM Honda seal when I dropped the transmission. It wasn't leaking during my initial leak check. Time to pull the RH axle & intermediate shaft and see whats up.

As far as installing the intermediate shaft into the transmission, I just pressed it into the transmission until the bolt holes for the bearing assembly on the back of the engine lined up. The service manual didn't include anything else.

Any other things I should be doing during the install? Due to lining up the bearing assembly, there's really no "is the intermediate shaft installed all the way into the transmission" issue that I can understand.

I plan to drain the transmission, pull the intermediate shaft, replace the axle seal, and see if that fixes the leak.

Anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks all.

 

The only thing I see in the service manual, during installation, that it stresses to be mindful of is:
'Insert the intermediate shaft horizontally to prevent damage to the differential oil seal.'
So as you carefully line up the bolt holes on the bracket, try to keep the half shaft as horizontal as possible.
Perhaps, somehow during the last installation damage to the seal occurred due to an angled approach versus 'horizontal' thus causing the leak? It's easy to do when tired & working on your back.
In addition, It appears all one needs is an appropriate sized oil seal driver to get it installed correctly to the proper dept.
Good Luck.

 

Glad it's much easier than I feared. The intermediate shaft is damn straight-forward, other than what zeta mentioned.