The mystery goes on. Removed the cannister from the motor, cleaned it up & could not visually find a leak below the 1/16 diameter flow control orifice at the inlet level.
I then filled the cannister with acetone and let it sit for awhile - no observed leakage into the middle tube or out the bottom connection. Put on the top and, with acetone still in the cannister, tightened the top bolt to see if this would induce a leak but again no leak.
