Morning! First post here. Just bought a 14’ F150 (3.5EB) & have a small leak that I’ve tracked to what appears to be the front diff input CV. My first 4WD so not overly familiar with them. The fluid is very clear so I thought it was brake fluid at first but no. Everything around it is dry/clean. Just the seam in the yellow circle has a slow drip. Any suggestions on the correct approach? Thanks in advance!!

 

What does the fluid look/smell like? Diff fluid will be golden (new) to dark (used).

The coolant reservoir and passenger side turbo are vaguely above the CV. Could either of them be dripping down onto the CV?

 

Morning! The fluid is perfectly clear with an oily feel. I initially thought it was brake fluid it’s so clear. Doesn’t smell like traditional 80w/90 but I realize these use synthetic gear oil which probably doesn’t smell like the old stuff.

 

Welcome!
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I don't think it does smell much from memory, though that's fuzzy these days. Do check for coolant from above as Laminar mentioned, it's not an uncommon leak, run your hand under the ~1" pipe running from under the coolant degas tank.

 

Culprit found! I honestly didn’t know there were coolant lines to/from the turbos. The circled line is the leaking location. I’ve had this truck about 3 weeks & it came with a 6 mo/6K mile power train warranty which happens to cover such an issue (thankfully). Doesn’t look like a fun fix. 😳

 

Glad the warranty is covering it!

 

So , just got off the phone with the dealership who has the truck. Took it to them since there was a 6 mo/6 K warranty & based on what I found it was the turbo coolant line leaking. The tech/service writer are trying to tell me "it's a heater hose leaking onto the turbo". Is there even a heater hose around the driver's side turbo? Because I'm calling B.S. on their diagnosis. Heater hoses would all be towards the passenger side if it's anything like the rest of the 6 billion cars made in the last 80 years.

 

I'm not familiar with the ecoboost motors as far as where the cooling lines run but I don't believe there would be heater hoses on that side of the engine compartment. At least not the ones that run into the cab. I just stopped by to say howdy neighbor haha. I'm in Troy but i'm in dayton almost every weekend.

 

The coolant reservoir is on the driver's side and that's a frequent leak point, too. They might just be confusing the terms because the hose to the reservoir is similar in size to the heater hoses on the passenger side.