[zippy]

Hi chaps,

My 1988 SS Mk1 EFI has been standing for over a year now in the garage, and getting it ready for a MOT.

There is a yellow fluid leaking from the front top and flowing across the engine to the rear.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Damien
________
Lovely Wendie

 

[guyslp]

Could you post an image noting the area the leak originates from and where it goes to (before running down the engine)? That would be helpful.

Based on the yellow color you describe I'd be inclined to guess antifreeze, particularly if fairly substantial amounts are involved. It could be RR363, but that's unlikely to appear yellow in any amount that would likely leak from around a pump.

It's very difficult to give anything more than a semi-educated (with emphasis on the "semi") guess with the information available. I'm also confused by your terminology to describe the car. At first I suspected a typo in the model year, because you use the shorthand SS (which I presume is Silver Shadow), but then you give Mk1 - which doesn't match either a 1978 Shadow II or a 1988 Spur/Spirit, either.

Brian, who's grown to love the common practice of giving chassis numbers, as this clears up quit a few issues. [SRH33576 - 1978 Silver Shadow II - European Spec]

 

[Paul Yorke]

I'd go for it being a Silver Spirit although the EFI is another confusing touch,

Sounds like brake pump seals. The fluid should be green though & I can only guess that it has never been changed if it has turned yellow. ( It does change colour with age)

 

[zippy]

It was a greeny yellow colour.

Sorry car is a 1988 Silver Spirit Mk1 with the newer Injection system (EFi).

Think they did a few changes 88/89 and then called it a Mk2?

All the pictures 1.6Mb each just in case you can't handle them.

Chassis Plate.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3197/chassisplate.jpg

Front of engine from drivers side.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/3201/frontengine2.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/276/frontengine.jpg

Rear of engine from passengers side.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/5334/rearengine.jpg
________
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[guyslp]

zippy,

The "shorthand chassis number" for your car is SAJ-23533, which tells the reader that it is a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit from 1988 and had sequence number 23533.

These will often be described as 20K series cars (which by default have no roman numeral). I can never remember which years the Spirit II and Spirit III and their derivatives were introduced. I think the II series started the 30K sequence numbers, but I could be entirely wrong on that.

See SZ Series Chassis Number Shorthand Derivation for details about how the shorthand designation is derived.

It is not at all uncommon for RR to introduce later features earlier in some production runs than when they "became official." Your car should definitely have EFI, that's for sure.

Since you say the fluid is greeny-yellow in color I'm wondering if you have an antifreeze leak somewhere. If it has a slightly iridescent edge to it, I'd suspect antifreeze. It could, however, easily be the hydraulic mineral oil, too. It would really help if you could pinpoint exactly where the source of the leak is. That's the only way you're going to know what to do next. If you can see the color of the leaking fluid I would expect that it's a fairly fast leak and you should be able to locate its source.

You definitely need to bookmark the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club of Australia Technical Library - SZ Series Pages as you're going to need info that they have there many, many, many times during your ownership period.

 

[Paul Yorke]

Does look like pump seals.

You'd need to give it a clean off really.


I've marked the front pump, you need to look at the base if it and see if it is wet,


.
rear pump not visable but I've marked the pipe.




If thery aew wet, you'll need to get them resealed.