All4One

Yesterday I noticed a few drops of brownish fluid on the garage floor. My 5 minute exam with a little flashlight and camera phone didn't show much. It looks like something sprayed on the underside of the body all the way the width of the car. The driveshaft, differential, and rear axle all look clean though with no fluid on it. It has dropped a couple times onto the muffler.

Just trying to narrow down my options when I can work on it tomorrow...what fluids would be on the backside? All I can think would be brakes, possibly rear axle lube or convertible hydraulic fluid, anything else?

The crappy pic is looking at the passenger side rear wheel from the underside center of the car.(If it helps)

All4One

After further consideration, it's gotta be brake fluid after the mountain drive this weekend. I'm just not sure why it is sprayed underneath the way it is.
When I clean it off is it ok just to hose it or do i need to hand wipe it all? I know its not good for the paint.

petrock

Its hard to tell where the source of the leak is from the pick let alone what part of the car is in the pic.

If it smells like bad eggs, then its differential fluid. The rear diff has a vent on the axle tube. If its clogged pressure will build as the oil heats up until either blows a seal or pushes the clog out and gushes oil everywhere. The vent looks like a 1/4" diameter, 1" tall cylinder on the top of the axle tube. Unscrew it and clean it out with some brake cleaner. If you can't get it clean, then buy a new one at a local auto parts store. Pretty cheap part. Also make sure the whole that the vent goes into is cleaned out, but make sure not to contaminate the oil in the tube with brake cleaner or other chemicals. Q-Tips are good for this part.

Either way, I'd clean everything off with brake cleaner, drive it around a while and verify the source of the leak. If it is brake fluid your brakes would feel spongy. Check your hard and soft brake lines for any cracks or damage.

Another possibility is that you ran over some oil on the road and it splashed up. That happened on my truck a while ago. Ran over a bottle that contained some kind of oil and it splattered everywhere under my truck. Really messy.

Good luck...

All4One

Thanks for the response. I finally got it all cleaned up yesterday. It is actually coming through a hole in the middle of the frame, which would explain why it is dripping down both sides. I suppose the next thing to check is the convertible lines and pump. On other models you just pull out the trunk panel. Is it the same for ours?

All4One

Well yesterday I learned that the convertible pump uses ATF. So not only is it not leaking, but its the wrong color and thickness. I cleaned everything on the underside off a couple days ago and it is still dripping down and collecting on the frame rails and also onto the top of the muffler.

It has to be oil because it's too thick to be anything else. My engine oil level has been fine. Where on the backside would there even be oil running from?