My name is Linda, from Montana City, MT. I have a 2009 Toyota RAV 4, it has about 53,000 miles and I am the original owner. About 4 days ago my husband drove the car home from a trip to town, and I commented there was a clear thick oil leaking from all 4 tire wells. He pointed out it some of it had started before he left, but when he came home, it was worse. It continued to leak, but seemed to slow down.
We brought it to the Toyota dealer and they have had it two days. They claim the drove the car, and let it sit overnight and they don’t find anything or see any more leak.
My husband cleaned the floor, and now we have four giant oil stains on the garage floor, it looks like someone spilled mineral oil or another clear oil.
Any ideas from anyone?
Check your master cylinder for brake fluid level. It would be unusual for a vehicle as new has your to have a leaking caliper or wheel cylinder, and nearly impossible for all four to go at one time unless there was sabotage. This is urgent, if the fluid level in your master cylinder is low, it could get very dangerous.
If the vehicle was “jumped”, that is someone took it over a large bump and it went airborne, you could have ruptured all four struts. By now the vehicle would be very hard to control at speed, especially on a rough road.
Last possibility, someone drove through an oil slick and splashed a lot of oil up under the vehicle and it has been dripping down since.
Concur about struts.
I’d imagine that the dealer would know to check for missing brake fluid (which is clear, btw). and ,like already stated, the car would be undrivable with collapsed struts.
It behaves normal, then?
About getting rid of the spills, you could try covering it with the absorbent type of kitty litter and pour some coca cola over it. It will loosen it and the kitty litter will absorb it.
@RemcoW: “About getting rid of the spills, you could try covering it with the absorbent type of kitty litter and pour some coca cola over it. It will loosen it and the kitty litter will absorb it.”
I’d like to add to that recommendation. First, don’t get the new fancy kitty liter that clumps. Get the older cheap stuff. Then, once it’s on the oil spots, don’t just let it sit there. Grind it in as best as you can. Turn on some music and do the twist to grind the kitty litter into the oil spots, or get one of those heavy rollers they use for laying down sod. Then, add some fresh kitty litter and grind it in. After that, sweep up most of the kitty litter, but don’t be concerned if you leave some fine dust behind. If you have a pressure washer available, you can pressure wash the areas, but if all you have is a garden hose, don’t bother. After the next rain, check the area to see how you did. You might need to repeat or rent a pressure washer.
There are special chemicals made for cleaning concrete, but I haven’t tried them. A good degreaser scrubbed with a deck brush could also help, but I prefer non-chemical treatments when they work.
The only thing that could leak from all four wheel wells is brake fluid. It shouldn’t be hard to see if that’s actually leaking or not. I think you drove through this fluid, probably from a leaking truck ahead of you.