looks like i have a leak. its coming from where the floor is rusted out in the rear passenger floorboard. red. i looked under the car and don't see any lines. what would that be? i imagine there is a line sandwhiched in there somewhere? hydraulic fluid? trans fluid? brake fluid?

**edit**looks like its leaking near the very rear of the car too. i'm pretty sure its leaking through the floor and then falling down near the rear tire. i imagine that line is broken somewhere and pooling up and dripping out wherever it can. how do i access it?

anyone have any thoughts? can't find anything in the old posts but i'm sure that i'm just not putting in the correct search terms

what kind of fluid? does it only happen the days following a rain? what model?

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

Red would be transmission fluid but I don't see how it could be leaking from the passenger compartment of the car.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Which model car?

Sounds like transmission fluid but that wouldn't drip from the rear of the vehicle.
You could have had a failure of your rear transmission seal while the fluid was hot and it could possibly have "sprayed" or more like migrated, to the rear of the car along the driveline.

Check your tranny fluid level but also check the rear seal before you drive it. The difference between max and min fluid levels on these Benz transmissions is less than 1/2 qt so pay attention to that fluid level. Measuring it dead cold is going to be your best option at this point since running the car and doing a bunch of shifting to get it hot are what you want to do to measure it when warmed up. Since you probably have a significant leak, you won't be able to find your baseline when the fluid gets warm if it's all spurting out the rear seal.

Where in New York are you located?

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

checked the trans fluid and if anything it was high. i had been busy looking at the puddles under the carpet but on inspecting the rear of the car more i noticed that it seems like its coming from the vicinity of the accumulator. i don't knwo much about the suspension on this thing (the previous owner did say he changed it...guess its not OE anymore?). in any event, i'm searching old threads but right now i'm assuming that some line located above the accumulator is leaking and its pooling and coming down the hole in the floor. would that make sense?

well. this takes the 'idiot award'. today i looked in that weird shallow compartment in the floor of the wagon's trunk. it was a virtual swimming pool. trans fluid or brake fluid or something. no empty container. weird thing is that i remember the previous owner showing me the snow chains in there when i first got it and certainly don't remember the puddle, but somehow i must have missed it and have been driving around for six months slowly dripping it out.

is red.

SERIOUSLY MAN...for the third time in as many days...what model car is it?!

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

Sounds like a weep hole in the trunk is leaking a red-colored fluid, put there previously.

pgringo. its a 300td. sorry i had put that in a post but once i figured out what was wrong i edited the post and must have deleted that part by mistake. i'm updating my profile now.
and skid row, yes thats what was happening.