Green fluid? Coolant?

[acarr6]

Had a small trail of green fluid coming from under the car this morning. The area immediately under the car was dry, and near the end of trail was still wet. It was green and slightly oily in feel. The fluid seemed to be dripping from the hole in the underbelly tray right in front of the front jacking point. I've attached a pic of the underside of the car for reference. Any ideas? Wasn't a crazy amount of fluid...and upon parking the car and letting it sit for 2 hours in a different spot, nothing on the ground.

[drrust]

Green suggests coolant. Have you gotten a low coolant warning? If you haven't had any work done recently take a flashlight and look around the water pump. You maybe able to see small puddles of coolant just under the pulley/shaft. Otherwise check the hoses, reportedly the thin tube that goes to the reservoir can fail.

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by drrust

Green suggests coolant. Have you gotten a low coolant warning? If you haven't had any work done recently take a flashlight and look around the water pump. You maybe able to see small puddles of coolant just under the pulley/shaft. Otherwise check the hoses, reportedly the thin tube that goes to the reservoir can fail.

No coolant warning at all, looked around everything didn't see any leaks. I took the car on a 30 min drive just now, all levels normal, temps normal. Going to let it sit overnight now and see if anything appears. If it was a coolant leak wouldn't it continuously come out until empty?

[WalkerM3]

Try the over flow tube from tank to engine- my orings were shot. Replaced with new tube- easy fix

[pbonsalb]

Coolant should be blue not green. A leaking AC compressor can leave a green residue on stuff but usually does not drip.

[wfdeacon88]

This happened to me last year. Ended up being a cracked washer fluid tank. No need to fix that thing. Test that first, fill up washer fluid and watch. Might not be what you have, but worth a shot and a prayer

[Pig Farmer]

Could be the power steering fluid (Pentosin CHF 11s) which is green when fresh. The consistency of Pentosin is very thin like brake fluid, and slippery, but not as slippery as oil. Overflow could travel down the hoses at the bottom of the reservoir and drip on the undertray.

[houston]

I had a small blue green spot. Ended up being the hose that goes from the coolant reservoir to the thermostat housing. Could have probably gotten away with a simple new o-ring on the thermostat end. Took a bit to figure it out and it only leaking a trace after longer drives

[pbonsalb]

The PS makes sense since it is green and the system can leak. Washer fluid is also blue like coolant so that is unlikely.

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The PS makes sense since it is green and the system can leak. Washer fluid is also blue like coolant so that is unlikely.

So, just to update everyone. I had 1 small drop after the car sat for a few hours, wiped it with my finger and smelled it. Had basically no smell, which tells me it's not coolant. Coolant has a pretty distinct smell. I also checked coolant level and it's fine. Power steering fluid seemed a little low, it was almost at the bottom of the "low" bar on the stick.

I've added a picture of the fluid.

[acarr6]

Pic of fluid

[pbonsalb]

Looks more blue than green and looks thin. I’d guess washer fluid. No smell, clean to the touch. PS is oily. The washer pumps eventually fail and leak on these cars but they are behind the passenger fender so a drip would have to travel to get to the undertray.

[drrust]

Can you clarify where you see the leak? Is it just behind the front passenger wheel or is it in the center of the car? If it is near the font passenger wheel, that's likely a cracked washer fluid pump as others have said. Very easy fix, it takes more time to take off the wheel and fender liner to get to the tank. Otherwise keep looking around engine components and you maybe able to to see where it is coming from.

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by drrust

Can you clarify where you see the leak? Is it just behind the front passenger wheel or is it in the center of the car? If it is near the font passenger wheel, that's likely a cracked washer fluid pump as others have said. Very easy fix, it takes more time to take off the wheel and fender liner to get to the tank. Otherwise keep looking around engine components and you maybe able to to see where it is coming from.

Looks like Center. Right where the drain plug is.

[tdott]

trying to tell without taking the under panels off and looking for the leak is a fool errand.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by tdott

trying to tell without taking the under panels off and looking for the leak is a fool errand.

Spot on !

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by tdott

trying to tell without taking the under panels off and looking for the leak is a fool errand.

There's no undertray on my car

[acarr6]

Just to update everybody.

Went to the mechanic, looks like my water pump is leaking. Guess it's time to replace! Pretty low mileage car.. 55k KM's.

[acarr6]

Just thought I'd update everyone on this thread in case someone is searching.

So, we figured out it was coming from the waterpump housing - either the rear o rings or the gasket at the thermostat. I decided to replace all 4 o rings and the thermostat since I was already in there. You can see in the pics the buildup from leaking coolant due to failed o rings.