1) This is the hot air hose. It takes heated air from around the
exhaust and ducts it to the air box, so the incoming air is no colder
than 5º C. This is only important when the outside temperature is well
below freezing - where you are in Oz this may not be necessary.
2) Red fluid is transmission fluid. This is used in the transmission
and power steering, although from your description, it sounds like a
transmission leak. There are a few seals that are relatively easy to
change, and a couple that require transmission removal. Also, assuming
auto trans, there are a couple of pipes that take fluid to the rad to be
cooled that can corrode through and start leaking, although these are on
the right side.
--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
