Pulled my truck ahead to shovel and there were drips in the snow.
Kind of a pee yellow color with a slight green tint.
My first thought was anti freeze but it was way back by the rear tires.
I crawled underneath with a paper towel and found it was dripping off of the muffler!!??
No Jim it isn’t lemon juice!!!
Brake lines were my second guess but I couldnt see any close to the muffler. Plus the color is wrong.
A box of Milkbones to right answer.
Gonna go get my oil changed and try and get a better look.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
Replies
Dog.
Character? I never had any problem with character. Why, people've been telling me I was one every since I was a kid.
Ok, Don't get mad at me for suggesting this, but: I had a similar experience once. I found unfamiliar drips coming out of what looked like the gas tank area of my brand new truck and freaked out totally. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that a bottle of antifreeze that I had tossed into the box had tipped over and leaked out. It was a huge relief while at the same time I felt awfully sheepish.(I had already called the dealership) At least I found it before I took it into them.
Might be byproducts of combustion .......... some mufflers have a hole in them that allow condensate to drain. Worst case scenario.......... leaky or blown head gasket(s) or intake gasket(s). How did ya make out with the wipers?
Edited 1/4/2003 1:38:30 PM ET by jc
Wipers were an e-z fix, popped of the cover and tightened the nut.
I'm gonna keep an eye on the coolant.
Seems strange that some a fluid like antifreeze could leak into the exhaust and condense back out retaining such a vivid color.
But I ain't no chemist!
Thanks
Mr TDo not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
i think your right with that assessment, it sounds like that bi- product with some sulfur mixed in.... cheers bear
With luck the dog peed on the wheel and missed, but it could be antifreeze if the head gasket is giving up.
are there any new trucks in the neighborhood?
sounds like your truck is marking it's territory.....
almost never seen in cars........rare in trucks, but does happen....
and real common on older Harleys.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Been there : The green dye used to denote coolant has a lot of yellow in it when it is leached (like in snow) I bet coolant : why at the back of my truck ? Here's the deal : you have a leak of some sort when the system is up and running (hence no additional leak when it is shut off) when you are running the coolant is migrating (wind) to the back of the truck (quite common : frame rail or something else) , when you stop it drips off of whatever it had collected on.
OR
You might see it out of the muffler weap hole (there so condensation IN the system doesnt rot the muffler ) IF a cylinder head leak (or head gasket failure ) is present . Heres what happens : the system is under pressure when running : so the "leak" goes out the tail pipe. When you stop the system is still hot so the leak continues / but it doesnt go out the tailpipe (engine off) it collects in a low point (cylinder) when you start up it gets sent throught the system as an unburnt liquid all at once and you see it at the back of the truck. If the leak gets worse you will have enough coolant in a cylinder at start up to "hydraulic" the motor (liquids dont compress : you bend a connecting rod and trash the engine) .
You HAVE a leak : get to the dealer and make sure it is reported (have them write it down on a bill when you get service ) the leak may take weeks , it may take years : my head gasket leak "was of no consequence" but the fact that I made them write it down DURING the warranty period saved me $1500 when it had to be fixed OUT OF warranty. If the dealer is interested in tracking it down they need the truck for 8 hours to put the system under pressure and let it sit UNTILL the leak can be traced. They may want to put a chemical into the collant to determine if there are combustion elements present (proves head gasket blown or cracked block/cylinder head.)
All in all this is not all that uncommon since todays engines are thin castings and cylinder head gaskets are often asked to seal two dissimilar materials (aluminum head / iron block) that expand at wildly different rates , putting the gasket under graet stress.
Hope this helps.
Cutter,
Sounds like you know your stuff!
One thought I had was to examine my spark plugs to see if there is any evidence of fouling etc.
Does this sound reasonable to you?
Any thing else I could do to rule out or in simpler fixes?
With my luck all the simple fixes WILL be ruled out.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
MrT, what kind of truck & how old? If you have coolant leaking out of the exhaust, you should have large clouds of steam also when you start it from cold and let it warm up. Coolant also has a strange odor when it's burning, you should be able to detect it when it warms up. Does coolant disappear from the reservoir/radiator?
This is not usually good news for the owner, car salesmen and mechanics opinions may differ. My truck is eating it's transmission right now, just spent a ton of money fixing a bunch of oil leaks, timing chain, new exhaust, front bearings and brakes, a tie rod end, and NOW the trans is getting weird..........this is not good. Frigging Ford.
Joe H
typically the amount of coolant (very minor) we are speaking of wont show on a spark plug..........also tough to "smell" at start up ( the only time this leak will be in enough volume to notice ) since a) it happens all at once and b) your engine management system will throw a really rich mixture at startup to get the engine going in the first place and rich is "stinky" ..... get it to the dealer and dont stop until you are satisfied its fixed
PS : dont fall for the "monitor the coolant level over the next few weeks " deal as it may only "leak" a few ounces in that time / also UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE get sucked into letting them put ANY type of stop-leak product into the system : they have a real habit of gunging things up . Engine cooling systems are supposed to be sealed : coolant is not a consumable : you have a problem : make them fix it.............
T, I agree you might not smell it, but in warm weather (which it isn't) it'll be a white smoke (steam) coming outta the tailpipe at warm up. You may not smell it, but the exhaust will have a sweet taste when coolant has worked it's way past the head gasket. No, don't stick your tongue in the tailpipe. Hope it's not a van and hope it's not the head gasket.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
That fresh yellow is now where you just peed your pants when you realized maybe the head gasket is leaking.
Character? I never had any problem with character. Why, people've been telling me I was one every since I was a kid.
Look in the engine compartment. I bet you will find a 3/4" threaded coupling in the lines going to the heater core which is leaking from the cap. That cap may be located above the exhaust pipe, and the fluid is dripping onto the pipe, and running down it to the end where it drips off. Question, do you have a sweet smell in your truck interior when running the heat and is your radiator fluid low (check the radiator and not the supply resevoir)?
Ya might get lucky...
I just found out my coolant leak was simply a small crack in the bottom of the overflow tank!
I had them flush the whole system as I wasn't used to paying less than $100 for a repair on the old van.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite