I think I know the answer - but seems a bit excessive.

The shifter cover was just removed and cleaned. Doesn't seem like the shift seal is the problem.

Thanks

Click to view attachment

Is it transaxle or engine oil?

Is it only the right side? Looks like axle shaft seal.

If both, and transaxle oil, input shaft seal. If engine oil...crankshaft seal.

You can smell gear oil vs engine oil. See if you can give it the sniff test.

Flying oil while driving can be tough to track down. The engine looks pretty much dry, rear main seal or farther back.

could be a main seal in the engine... could be the front (main) seal in the transmission
both require dropping at least the trans to replace.
you'll know if your clutch disc is wet when you get it apart

but I've had oil fly everywhere on the road
so best to clean it well... short drives and see where it is coming from as it starts to drip... before it covers everything

Looks like the gasket in the cv might be gone. Could be cv grease.

RMS. No way a cv contains that much lube. What ever it is, it’s been leaking a long time. The mess is pretty far forward on the trans.

Take it to a coin op car wash and then immiedately begin to look for the fresh oil source.

I also use Tracerline UV dies.

A simple UV flashlight (Walmart $10) will work just fine.

Better yet, the Tracerline TP1300 is the BRIGHTEST UV light source I've ever seen.

Look directly at it and it will give you flash blindness.

You HAVE to use the yellow glasses with it.

It's bad-assed and what I use almost exclusively finding AC refrigerant leaks.

How long has this been acting up? just since your recent repair?

It looks pretty old...

bottom of engine looks reasonably clean expect the RMS has been leaking for some time ,lower it closer to the ground and put a sheet of cardboard under the bell housing area and run it up till warm, I would say it will drip out the opening fairly soon.
Think you will find other leaks also but reckon this is the primary cause .
Good luck sorting it,cheers.

bottom of engine looks reasonably clean expect the RMS has been leaking for some time ,lower it closer to the ground and put a sheet of cardboard under the bell housing area and run it up till warm, I would say it will drip out the opening fairly soon.
Think you will find other leaks also but reckon this is the primary cause .
Good luck sorting it,cheers.

Mine looked similar. Dropped the motor and transaxle and put all new seals in. So far, after 1.5 years, no leaks..

Giving it the taste test will tell you a lot. They smell completely different, engine oil out of a good running engine will have a mild smell, if any. Trans fluid has a strong gamey smell...Rotten dinosaur maybe. You’ll still have to drop at least the trans, but at least you’ll know what to buy.
I’d drop the whole thing and do some house cleaning while I was in there.

Trans axle shaft seals (o-ring) and cv joint gasket and probably a new boot too.

Look at the housing at the trans….it’s soaked

Speedometer drive is at least part of it.

Did I read this correctly, "no leaks"?


how can that be

Oop

Decades ago you could drive up to a car wash and wash your car for a quarter!

Now it takes a whole roll...

You rip you couch apart, dig under the seats and center console in your car and maybe find enough quarters for 5 minutes of high-pressure action.

Where I'm at, if the owner of the self-serve car wash saw you cleaning the undercarriage or individual greasy parts, they will have a SHIT FIT.

You will have a problem on your hands...

I've taken a jack and jack stands before to allow serious undercarriage cleaning, but I ONLY do this deep night now.

In the big cities you will often find low class drug dealers frequenting a coin operated car wash. I can't count the number of times I've been offered drugs at one of these past midnight.

I've always been armed when doing this stuff for just this reason.

When I build my big shop on my property I'm planning an old used side post lift outside, under a tall carport, to do this type of work...

'm
and 'm
coz whatever is going down in the usa is gonna be going down here in 10 years time
and i'm not looking forward to going to the pressure wash armed at midnight.

----
back to topic.
if thats a rear main seal your clutch would be slipping i tend to think.
the photo is a bit far back to really tell where the exxon valdez disaster is originating from but she sure is an environmental law suit.

Answer to the thread’s title question:
lack of maintenance

That Cv gasket is gone. Usually they will leave a grease line about the undercarriage 90 degrees out from the gasket, which I don't see. I'd inspect it anyway.

All suggestions above are good - especially the smell test. Need to know if it’s gear oil or engine oil.

There is a lot of oil residue up high on the tail end of the trans. That usually isn’t from engine oil.

I’ve seen this occur when the transmission vent is blocked. Internal pressure inside the trans pushes gear oil out everywhere - input shaft seals, differential carrier seals, speedo gear, gear shift seal, etc., anywhere it can relieve pressure.

Can also occur when the trans is overfilled. Sort of hard to overfill if done properly but I’ve seen them overfilled when filled on the bench or garage floor.

My 70 looked like that and really spewed fluid out once warm. Dropped engine. Both the output shaft seal on the trans and RMS were leaking. Did those and new clutch. Much better now. I won't claim it doesn't leak at all :-)

Coin ops car washes, in fact traditional drive through car washes, car/truck repair garages and even commercial parking garages are required to have sand/oil separator tanks in their drainage system so this should not be a technical problem. These function similar to septic tanks to contain the contaminant and prevent it from entering the public drainage system.

Individual coin op car wash owners may get excited if you leave chunks of grease on the slab, but they are protected with their sand/oil separator tanks. Just wash the debris into the drain.

In California!
I've worked in 20+ shops over the years. Only 2 had such separators.

I AGREE with what Jeff has posted, It shouldn't matter!

The coin operated carwashes I've been to lately now have signs in the bays "no hand washing" and the owners have gotten far more "controlling" in the last decade.
Every time I've cleaned an engine compartment during the day, I have an argument with the owner who has NEVER been at his car wash at midnight.
Just the scuzzy drug dealers...

OP, do you have to add engine oil on a regular basis? If you should have to deal with transmission lube, loosen the fill (upper one) plug first.

That's pretty grungy.

Dr Evil used to recommend this for cleaning transmission cases: https://www.dollartree.com/las-totally-awes...lls-32oz/985190

No pressure washing though. You don't want water forced past the seals and into the gearbox.

I'm still waiting for the OP to let us know if he's brave enough to taste the mess.

(I do it all the time, especially with stuff I swipe off the ground. My friends recoil in horror when I do that, only to be grateful when I tell them it's justwater from their A/C evaporator...wusses...the tongue knows)

Not me, thank you.

The smell test should work just fine, gear oil has a very distinctive odor