Alright guys, thanks for the info and advice. Talked about the leak with a good friend of mine (two heads are better than one - on second thought, this forum shows that a million heads are def better than one). I do believe the leak is somewhere around the front of the pan, near the crank seal. There seems to be fresh oil above the pan on the front cover as well as below it, but not much higher than the crank pulley. Judging by the amount of oil that I'm leaking (enough to drip on a driveway after only a few minutes), my friend suggested that it might be the front crank seal. I'm game with that before tackling the front cover - oh man do I not want to mess with that
. Is getting the front crank seal changed pretty expensive, or is it a fair DIY job? I may try degreasing the dirty mug and sourcing the leak that way.
For the red fluid, I'm not so sure where that's coming from. Below the pump it's dry, and same with the pressure hose. But somewhere around the alternator, it's really dousing the whole area with a coat of crimson. I noticed a pair of fluid (metallic) lines running along the frame in that area; reminded me of ATX cooling lines running up to the radiator on my old 'stang - but I've got an MTX. If I get the chance today, I'll snag a few pics and post them. The saga continues - and again thanx for the words of wisdom.
