Okay each night after I park my car I will come across two mystery leaks the next morning. Both leaks are about center of engine almost right behind the radiator. These leaks have been occuring now since I had the radiator replaced back in Nov, however none of my fluids are going down. I check my fluids on average 2-3 times a week and no change. I put cardboard under it and the fluid is brown in color but can’t figure out what it could be. The size of the leaks range in size from say size of a bottom of a cup down to a quarter. the leaks only show up the next morning as I can check it about 2-3 hours after getting home and no leak. what could it be?
I vote for transmission fluid. You might try dripping a couple of drops onto the cardboard to see if the stains match. Repairs involve replacing some seals.
Doubt it, my tranny fluid is red as I have checked, and both fluid drops are dark brown.
Steve’s theory has merit.
If the leaks are right behind the radiator, I would theorize that the shop that replaced your radiator did not properly tighten the fittings for the transmission cooler lines. Those lines run from the transmission to the bottom of the radiator, and loose fittings at or near the radiator would produce leaks in the area that you described.
If you have not yet checked your transmission fluid, you need to do it NOW. Use the checking procedure listed in the Owner’s Manual, and if it is low, add the correct spec fluid slowly, while continuing to check the fluid level, so as to not overfill the trans.
If this theory proves to be true, you need to take the car back to the shop that replaced the radiator so that they can properly tightent the fittings on the transmission cooler lines. There should be no charge for them to fix their earlier screw-up.
Not trans fluid either, I keep a very close eye on that fluid and it is just fine. That is what is baffling me, none of my fluids are low or getting lower and this has been going on now since Nov.
Transmissions hold a lot of fluid. It would have to leak for a while at the rate you describe for the drop in level to be detectable. What’s the harm in looking at the transmission cooler fittings to see if they are moist?
I can, where is it? also if it was tranny oil, would it be red? I put a white piece of poster board under my car one night to check color and it was brown, but my tranny fluid on my stick is red.
You might want to place a clear plastic sheet underneath the drips, instead of the cardboard.
This will allow you to preserve the drips perfectly, since they will not be absorbed into the cardboard or dirtied by contact with the garage floor. Hopefully this will aid in properly identifying the colour and texture of the dripping fluid.
There are two 1/4 inch metal tubes that are fastened to the lower resivoir with nuts. The color might be due to the fluid leaking slowly along the transmission lines that have road gunk on them, and thus getting contaminated which would account for the color.