Methanol (is this normal)
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7,384
Likes: 137
From: Ahead of You :)
St. Jude Donor '14
Methanol (is this normal)
Car yesterday after sitting for a day tells me "check windshield washer fluid". Okay fine it's low. First off, I thought it was kind of bizarre that it was after sitting and not after the last time I got on it.
I filled it up this morning. I checked on it ten minutes later it was still full. I now went to check on it four hours later and it's not up to the brim any more.
Do I have a leak? I don't see any large puddles or anything underneath the car. Where's some obvious places to look if there was? Is it possible I really was empty and it was showing higher than what it was because of a potential air pocket and now it's dropped down and I have nothing to worry about?
I filled it up this morning. I checked on it ten minutes later it was still full. I now went to check on it four hours later and it's not up to the brim any more.
Do I have a leak? I don't see any large puddles or anything underneath the car. Where's some obvious places to look if there was? Is it possible I really was empty and it was showing higher than what it was because of a potential air pocket and now it's dropped down and I have nothing to worry about?
Last edited by Nosferatu; Jan 21, 2016 at 01:35 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7,384
Likes: 137
From: Ahead of You :)
St. Jude Donor '14
I have the half mile event in two days great timing...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 111
hard to say without knowing how much it went down but it does evaporate pretty quickly if sitting and the cap isn't tight.
my car sometimes goes a few weeks or more without driving and I know there is no leak and if I park it filled up to the brim, when i come back out to my car a few weeks later the meth will be down to the bottom of the neck sometimes where i can't even see it, but when I fill it back up it's just the neck.
i'd check for a leak though, for me at least i would really not NOT want to have a methanol leak on my car. that stuff burns clear and is obviously super flamable.
my car sometimes goes a few weeks or more without driving and I know there is no leak and if I park it filled up to the brim, when i come back out to my car a few weeks later the meth will be down to the bottom of the neck sometimes where i can't even see it, but when I fill it back up it's just the neck.
i'd check for a leak though, for me at least i would really not NOT want to have a methanol leak on my car. that stuff burns clear and is obviously super flamable.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,416
Likes: 198
From: Wilkes-Barre Pa
I would guess the rubber seal for the meth pump intake line in the washer tank. It drips down onto the inside of the fender and evaporates before it can puddle up enough to make it to the ground.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,042
Likes: 24
From: NJ
Agreed, been there done that a couple times already... Meth pump is shot, I'm sure Matt has one on the shelf that he can swap for you before the event. It's literally a 20 min job if you know what your doing!
Last edited by 1MEANGS; Jan 21, 2016 at 03:54 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7,384
Likes: 137
From: Ahead of You :)
St. Jude Donor '14
well considering by the time I posted this I had to be at work in an hour or two it really limited me on what I could do...
I did notice (which wasn't there earlier) a slow drip coming from where the pump would be. The whole underbody of the car in front of the driver side door was all wet. I had a friend drive the car down for me to his shop and I guess we'll see.
Perfect timing...sucks for both me and FSP that it had to happen now. I guess better yesterday than on Saturday (day of the event)... :/
I did notice (which wasn't there earlier) a slow drip coming from where the pump would be. The whole underbody of the car in front of the driver side door was all wet. I had a friend drive the car down for me to his shop and I guess we'll see.
Perfect timing...sucks for both me and FSP that it had to happen now. I guess better yesterday than on Saturday (day of the event)... :/
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Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 22
From: Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania
well considering by the time I posted this I had to be at work in an hour or two it really limited me on what I could do...
I did notice (which wasn't there earlier) a slow drip coming from where the pump would be. The whole underbody of the car in front of the driver side door was all wet. I had a friend drive the car down for me to his shop and I guess we'll see.
Perfect timing...sucks for both me and FSP that it had to happen now. I guess better yesterday than on Saturday (day of the event)... :/
I did notice (which wasn't there earlier) a slow drip coming from where the pump would be. The whole underbody of the car in front of the driver side door was all wet. I had a friend drive the car down for me to his shop and I guess we'll see.
Perfect timing...sucks for both me and FSP that it had to happen now. I guess better yesterday than on Saturday (day of the event)... :/
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,125
Likes: 202
That is unacceptable in my opinion and the reason why I'm still on the fence putting a kit on mine. Every few years I could put up with but it seems a lot of them fail prematurely.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 22
From: Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania
15 minutes every 2 years for 50 hp and insurance your motor won't grenade? Sounds like a pretty good trade off to me. Plus it's way more than 50 hp in the summer, more like 100. I love running into guys that "are on the fence" with Meth, lol.
Last edited by NormWild; Jan 23, 2016 at 10:58 AM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 16,667
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From: Raleigh, NC
St. Jude Donor '15
I would bet for every one that you hear of leaking there are 50 that are just fine. Ok maybe not 50.. but you get my point. You don't hear from people when they don't leak.
I still think swapping out the pump once a year is the best way to do it. After you have two pumps then you're just paying for a rebuild which isn't much
I still think swapping out the pump once a year is the best way to do it. After you have two pumps then you're just paying for a rebuild which isn't much
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,125
Likes: 202
I will pull the trigger eventually I'm sure. Just discouraging when reading threads like this. Failure after a month leads me to believe there is a quality control issue. I would be livid if mine went that quick.
