What's leaking????!!!

Ever walked out to your vehicle and noticed a puddle on the driveway underneath it?  Was it reddish, brown, green, clear? After having a great morning getting ready for work, finding something like this could really put a kink in your day.  Knowing what you are looking at could put your mind at ease in regards to whether it is an emergency or something that can wait until you make it to our auto repair shop.
Today I want to share with you how you can try to determine what is leaking based on the color and possibly the location. 

If the fluid is reddish in color and towards the front of the car, this is most likely power steering fluid.  It will be thin in texture.  

Motor oil will appear as a thin light brown liquid to a thick dark black one depending on its age.  You will find the leak in various locations of the automobile.  

Anything ranging from light yellow to a dark brown could be your brake fluid.  Brake fluid starts off clear to a light yellow and darkens as it ages.  To be able to tell the difference between motor oil that is brown and brake fluid that is brown is in the texture.  Brake fluid will be very slick.

If you find the liquid around the center of your car and it is orange in color it is most likely transmission fluid. 

Bright yellow, green, or purple indicates a coolant leak.  With coolant leaks, the vehicles age usually plays a big part.  Older vehicles sometimes blow off a little bit of coolant when the engine gets hot.  But newer vehicles recycle this blow off, so there shouldn't be any coolant externally.  

Lastly, if you see clear fluid dripping it is most likely just water.  You will see this most often after you have been running the air conditioner because of excess condensation that builds up.

If you happen to spy a leak coming from your vehicle, please do not hesitate to bring your vehicle in to the shop.  In most cases your vehicle will still be able to operate enough to get you down the road and to the shop, but we do not recommend sitting on it.  Leaks are a warning your vehicle is giving you that something is going wrong.  If you catch a small leak early then most often than not the fix is simple and less expensive then if you were to wait it out as the leak gets worse.  We are always here for you, give us a call anytime for further questions or concerns 619-562-3933