Photo: What to do if liquid is dripping from your car (Getty Images) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
Liquid dripping from a car onto the ground can mean trouble – especially if the resulting puddle is not noticed in time. How can you tell a dangerous leak from, for example, rainwater running off the mudguards?
Read about what to do when you notice signs of leaking working fluids under your car in the RBC-Ukraine article.
First of all, let's reassure the owners of relatively young cars that haven't yet crossed their second hundred thousand kilometers. Your car may start losing fluids only after some mechanical damage. But this doesn't mean that you can ignore suspicious puddles you accidentally notice.
To figure out what exactly is leaking and how dangerous it is, RBC-Ukraine Auto journalists will give two questions-hints.
Where is it dripping from?
The working fluid does not always drip onto the ground exactly where it came out of the machine system – it can run down not just downwards, but with a deviation to the side of up to half a meter. But it is sometimes enough to localize the leak zone at least approximately.
Near the engine . In the engine area, everything can drip onto the ground: gasoline/diesel fuel, oil from the engine and gearbox, antifreeze, brake fluid and power steering fluid, antifreeze from the windshield washer reservoir, and condensed water from the air conditioner (by the way, only this condensed water has the legal right to flow out of the car).
Somewhere in the middle of the car . Closer to the center of the bottom, a fuel leak may indicate itself – either from the tank (usually hidden under the back seat) or from a damaged fuel line. About here, oil will drip from the gearbox in a model with rear or all-wheel drive. Also, under the bottom, there are usually metal brake system tubes that can rust and start leaking.
Under the rear of the car . Here again, the fuel tank, the above-mentioned pipes, and if the car has a rear-wheel drive, then the transmission units: the rear axle or the coupling may cry.
Near the wheel. This is where the most dangerous leaks occur, and this is where they are most difficult to notice. After all, brake fluid from a damaged hydraulic drive slave cylinder likes to run down the inner side of the wheel. Even if you don't see a puddle, but an unnaturally black, greasy color of the tire, this is already an alarm signal. On some rear-wheel drive models, oil leakage through the wheel hub seal indicates itself in this way, but this only applies to the rear wheels.
How to identify liquid
Of course, car service professionals will lift the car and visually determine the leak location. But if there is no service station nearby, you can conduct an express diagnostic based on, excuse me, the organoleptic qualities of the lost fluid.
Water from the air conditioner (condensate). We can wish every driver that only this liquid drips from his car – this is ordinary water. On hot days, after long operation of the air conditioning system (climate control), condensate forms in the air conditioner evaporator under the car's dashboard. A special tube is often provided for its removal, which comes out under the bottom of the car.
Gasoline. It is determined easily and simply – by smell. It is important to ensure that the gasoline puddle does not catch fire before the arrival of technical assistance. Moreover, one spark is enough for a fire.
Diesel fuel. Also has a characteristic smell, but less intense. It is not easy to set a puddle of diesel fuel on fire, but still, you should not drive with a leak.
Brake fluid . It smells like alcohol and is also very fluid. When you lick the brake fluid, it will seem bitter, even burning. It is clear that if the brake fluid leaks, you cannot move the car.
Antifreeze. The coolant is also very fluid, but it tastes sweet and feels greasy, almost like oil. You cannot start the engine with a low antifreeze level.
Motor oil. Any of the automobile oils is maximally oily, does not smell strongly, the smell is partly chemical, partly – as if burnt. A drop of motor oil, if shaken on water, will float like a washer. If, when the engine is running in any of the modes, the red (orange) lamp of emergency oil pressure lights up on the instrument panel, it means that all the oil has run out of the engine.
Transmission oil. The oil from the manual gearbox is the thickest of all the others, and it smells its own way. And most importantly, it spreads out on the surface of the water in rainbow-colored streaks. The oil that dripped from the automatic gearbox behaves similarly, but it is quite liquid.
Power steering fluid. The hydraulic fluid of the power steering system is usually the same type ATF as in the automatic transmission. Therefore, its signs are the same. If it leaks, it will be very difficult to turn the steering wheel, especially on the spot, but if the driver is physically strong enough, it is possible to move very slowly.
Short
So, sometimes it is very useful to look under your car, because sometimes you can see something very important for your own safety. But in order to avoid looking under the bottom on the street, it is worth showing an older car to a mechanic once or twice a season – even if there are no complaints about the car. And ideally, even an old car should undergo regular maintenance, following the recommendations of the car manufacturer with all scheduled replacements and inspections of systems.
In preparing this article, materials from Autocentre , Motor and Bosch were used .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported why pedestrians are not always right.