Antifreeze spray behind cam cover, brake moist leak

[Michael Borquez]

So I’m changing my oil today 17k miles and I notice what looks like some type of fluid that has sprayed the engine. I’m guessing it is antifreeze, but I don’t see an active leak. I was also bothered by some wetness on the brake controller. Anyone have this happen to them?

 

[Michael Borquez]

Good news, bad news... The fluid splash appears to muddy water that kicked up. Now for the bad news: The crank pulley is leaking. I’ve attached photos from the bottom of the pulley facing up which was a hard angle to get so you all can check yours.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Sorry you’re having to deal with a leak.
The circled area looks like a very slow brake fluid leak perhaps due to a gasket failure between those two parts. I would have it looked at and also see if the two bolts are still torqued down correctly. That should be a warranty fix. Any leak in any part of the brake system, no matter how slight, is an unacceptable safety issue IMHO.

The spattered white has me stumped. I don’t ever remember antifreeze leaving white residue and antifreeze leaks that big usually have an odor. It kind of looks like salt spray from the road but the engine compartment is pretty well sealed off for that to happen. You do have the bottom on cover on? Gone through any big puddles or been splashed?

 

[insightman]

I'm embarrassed not to know. What does the crank pulley drive?

 

[Michael Borquez]

I'm embarrassed not to know. What does the crank pulley drive?

Normally it drives accessories like an alternator. On our cars it’s just there to balance the crankshaft and to check timing.

 

[Michael Borquez]

Sorry you’re having to deal with a leak.
The circled area looks like a very slow brake fluid leak perhaps due to a gasket failure between those two parts. I would have it looked at and also see if the two bolts are still torqued down correctly. That should be a warranty fix. Any leak in any part of the brake system, no matter how slight, is an unacceptable safety issue IMHO.

The spattered white has me stumped. I don’t ever remember antifreeze leaving white residue and antifreeze leaks that big usually have an odor. It kind of looks like salt spray from the road but the engine compartment is pretty well sealed off for that to happen. You do have the bottom on cover on? Gone through any big puddles or been splashed?

Yep, it was muddy water. On the down side, the crank pulley seal is leaking. So I still have two things for the dealer to look at.

 

[insightman]

Normally it drives accessories like an alternator. On our cars it’s just there to balance the crankshaft and to check timing.

Thank you. I was certain there were no belts and was surprised to find there was still a vestigial crank pulley. Unfortunately, that means there's a seal that can fail. If it has, indeed, failed, it's good to have failed within the warranty period.

 

[Michael Borquez]

 

[Sandroad]

Unless you've confirmed for sure the crank seal is leaking, I wonder if that's just some residual oil from a previous sloppy oil fill? If someone slopped engine oil on that end of the engine when filling, it would run down to the crank pulley and end up looking like that.

What the heck is the brake part that has the wetness on it? I found it on my car and it's dry outside, but have no idea what it is.

 

[Michael Borquez]

Unless you've confirmed for sure the crank seal is leaking, I wonder if that's just some residual oil from a previous sloppy oil fill? If someone slopped engine oil on that end of the engine when filling, it would run down to the crank pulley and end up looking like that.

What the heck is the brake part that has the wetness on it? I found it on my car and it's dry outside, but have no idea what it is.

I've done the oil changes and assure that the engine compartment has been kept clean. I first noticed residue on the bottom of the oil pan, which i wiped before taking the video. I tracked that back to the crank pulley. Like I said, its bad yet, just residue at this point. I really baby the car, all of my cars for that matter, so this was a little surprising so early

 

[KentuckyKen]

Unless you've confirmed for sure the crank seal is leaking, I wonder if that's just some residual oil from a previous sloppy oil fill? If someone slopped engine oil on that end of the engine when filling, it would run down to the crank pulley and end up looking like that.

What the heck is the brake part that has the wetness on it? I found it on my car and it's dry outside, but have no idea what it is.

I believe that is the electric servo brake system.
Attached is a diagram and description of the right component which cleverly gives us our excellent brake feel at the pedal.
It’s so complicated compared to a regular vacuum assist master cylinder that we probably don’t want to know how much it costs to replace!

 

[Michael Borquez]

I believe that is the electric servo brake system.
Attached is a diagram and description of the right component which cleverly gives us our excellent brake feel at the pedal.
It’s so complicated compared to a regular vacuum assist master cylinder that we probably don’t want to know how much it costs to replace!

That's the part and boy does that make me nervous that there is no physical connection to the brakes, lol. There seems to be fail safes in the assembly which I'm guessing locks the brakes in case of a failure.

Seeing the diagram makes me more concerned that a seal within the assembly is fatigued and beginning to leak. I'm guessing the parking brake actuator is in this assembly, or would it make more sense for it to be separate as a secondary fail safe.

 

[Sandroad]

I believe that is the electric servo brake system.
Attached is a diagram and description of the right component which cleverly gives us our excellent brake feel at the pedal.
It’s so complicated compared to a regular vacuum assist master cylinder that we probably don’t want to know how much it costs to replace!

Thanks Ken! From the diagram you posted, that part is specifically the tandem motor cylinder. Very cool.

Tandem Motor Cylinder

The tandem motor cylinder is composed of the motor, the gearbox, and the slave cylinder. The electric servo brake control unit drives the motor, whose movement is transmitted through the gearbox, in order to move the piston in the slave cylinder and generate fluid pressure

 

[Claire Green]

Nothing about the Clarity is simple anymore, this is the reason I splurged on an extended warranty for the first time in 50 years of owning cars. I voted no leak on the survey but that's just for the brake fluid leak, I tried to check for the crank pulley leak from above using a mirror but can't find a way to do it so I'll have to go below and take the cover off and check later.