Car Leaking Fluid? How to Tell What It Is (and When to Worry)

A spot on the driveway is easy to ignore, but almost every fluid leak starts small and gets worse. Catching it early usually means replacing a gasket or a hose instead of an engine or transmission.

What color is the puddle?

• Brown or black, slick: engine oil. Often a valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket or rear main seal.
• Green, orange or pink, sweet-smelling: coolant. Hoses, water pump, radiator or a head gasket. Don’t keep driving if the temperature gauge climbs.
• Red or reddish-brown: automatic transmission fluid or power steering fluid.
• Clear to yellowish, slippery: brake fluid. Treat this as urgent, because low brake fluid means less stopping power.
• Clear and watery, near the front passenger side: usually just A/C condensation, which is normal.

Why you shouldn’t wait

Low oil wears out bearings. Low coolant overheats engines and warps heads. Low transmission fluid burns up clutches inside the transmission. And a brake fluid leak is a safety problem right now. Fluids dripping onto hot exhaust parts can also become a fire risk.

What we do

We clean the area, find the actual source (it’s often not directly above the puddle), and tell you what it will take to fix it, so you can decide before any work is done.