I noticed today that I had a milky white leak puddle on the ground under the oil pan area of my 95. My first thought was a blown head gasket but I don't have any of the signs or symptoms. Oil was normal when I changed it just over 1k ago and it wasn't there when I left to go to work Thursday morning. Ran some errands and came back to the house this afternoon and was checking my tire pressure when I noticed the puddle.

 

That's a milk shake....if on the passenger side it could be your water pump weep hole!
Look inside you valve cover (oil filler cap) see if if milky in there if it is you know it's a leak head gasket. Be sure to check you overflow tank! If you do have a leaking head gasket it could be transferring oil into your cooling system causing it to overflow....

 

Water pump was replaced around 15-20k ago but I'll check it. Nothing but clean oil inside valve cover and on dipstick. Coolant's clean. Car's running normal, no ssmoking from tailpipe or any unusual smells. I'll try and see if I can get a pic uploaded of the spot in the driveway.

 

Did someone else have their car parked there before you parked yours?

 

No.

 

Here's a pic of the spot in the driveway:

 

What's it smell like!

 

What's it taste like?



Was your defroster running when you parked? The a/c compressor runs with the defroster on. Looks like a condensation puddle from the evaporator.

 

Tastes like cookies and cream, lol.

I'd been running my defroster Thursday of last week. How would clear condensation combine with an oil spot to get that color?

CMax, it didn't really have enough of a smell to describe, borderline odorless.

 

that's oil and antifreeze mixed together. i would check all your hoses and see if/where your leaking antifreeze from.

 

If you have an oil leak and you park over a puddle and the oil leaks in the puddle. This can happen.

 

max ride - I've got a very slow drip from a bad radiator drain plug but that's not dripping anywhere near the spot on the driveway.

Schulte - Not so much a puddle as an oil spot on the driveway, it's been wet before and just gets that rainbow kinda look to it.

All 3 vehicles I've owned in the last decade have had little oil drips like this one and I've never seen anything like this. I've started parking a little further down the driveway to see if the issue reoccurs and been trying to park in the same spot at work often as possible but so far only a couple drops of oil on the ground.

 

Sounds like gas. When it mixes with moisture on the ashphalt you will get that milky colour after awhile and when it first starts dripping you will get that rainbow colour. Do you or have you checked to see if you have any evap codes or does your ses light come on when you get down to a quarter tank or so? And lastly when you clean it up check to see if it's starting to eat away at the ashphalt where the stain was. If so chances are it is gas and you have an evap leak somewhere. Is your driveway on a slope?

 

Is ses light cel? My driveway is sloped and I park facing up the slope. There's no cel at any point and what in the fuel system would be leaking on the passenger side? Fuel line comes into the engine compartment on the driver side and evap is over there too. Cleaned best I could, driveway is oil stained on that spot but no signs of the concrete being eaten away any. An evap or other fuel leak would explain my drop in mileage.

 

yeah ses (service engine soon) cel (check engine light) same dif lol. Is your filler neck on the passenger side if so is the leak near the back? Reason i ask is because i had the same problem and couldn't figure it out for awhile until one morning i came out to walk the dog and when walking past the car i finally noticed a slow drip so i put my hand under it and sure enough it was fuel but it left that same milky look on the drivway after awhile and my driveway too is on a slope and i was parked forward aswell and the car was on a full tank but i noticed when i backed it in the drip stopped. If there is an evap leak usually the cel wont come on until it's about or below a quarter tank or so. In most cases anyway.

 

Giant clean piece of cardboard under the car at night will help your investigation a lot trust me

 

The milky stuff on the ground was under the front passenger side, not seeing any fuel leaking and not smelling any gas. I've had it below a quarter tank within the last week or so, no cel.

 

Looks like coolant and oil to me. But just a guess. What does oil look like on back side of oil cap?

 

Ive seen gear oil look that after getting rained on. Are you 5MT? check your transaxle for leaks.

 

Best advice so far...really. But a clean piece of cardboard under the car and see what the drips are and where they are coming from. You'll be able to tell if the milky-ness is straight from the car or happening after it leaks to the ground.

Hopefully it doesn't rain while you're doing this. Then report back.

Seriously, go do it.

 

Shoved some clean cardboard under the car last night only couple of oil drops on it this morning. No milkiness.

Nope, it's AT asand, no leaks on that side of the car at all.

 

Maybe the car had an Orgasm?

 

I was waiting for someone to say that....

 

"The Waiting Is The Hardest Part!!!!"

 

Passengers side? Hmm. I have seen this type of puddle under my car before. IMHO, its power steering fluid. Check your lines coming from the refill bottle, which is located on the passengers side of the engine bay. I may be wrong but in my case it was a slow leak where the rubber lines attached to the steel ones for the power steering. Tightened up the clamps and all was good.

 

I think my rubber lines are worn out, power steering bottle was bubbling because of air from loose connection between the rubber and metal lines a while back. I tightened the lines and it stopped for a little while but started again.

At any rate I haven't been able to duplicate the issue.

 

Yep you got a power steering leak somewhere if there is air in the resivor. Your going to want to get the leak fixed ASAP or you might ruin your PS pump or other components. If there was air in the resivor its possible that a bunch of air bleed off after you tightened up the lines making it appear as if you lost more fluid. Either way after the leak is fixed you will have to bleed the system. Cut the wheel all the way and Rev. The engine lightly to bleed the air off.
PS: that puddel would likely reappear after it rained. At least in my case the puddle was very visible after a rain storm.

 

lol looks like your max rubbed one out one night and didnt have a tissue

 

Dude, I have the same puddle in my driveway, and my water pump is on its way out! Inside the engine bay, check for wetness on the black water pump cover on the side of engine near the belts and idler pulley. If the cover is wet, then it's the water pump big daddy.

 

That was one of the first things I checked. I wasn't able to duplicate that spot anywhere else and I couldn't find anything leaking into that spot other than oil so I'm gonna assume that the weather before this happened washed something into it. At any rate the cars at the body shop getting fixed from getting rear ended last week so I can't really look into it any more right now anyway.