something is leaking out of the front of my car

[adman]

advice pls

I noticed a small puddle on the road (directly under the front right hand side of the car).

Looked under the car and the bit of its belley just before the V that points towards the back of the car was wet.

Did an oil dip and don't appear to be losing oil, has been suggested to me may problem be coolant.

DO these cars leak oil or coolant, should / does the panel under the car get wet (mainly on the right side) - do I have a big issue here?

appreciate any advice

[chris watton]

Has your Tusc got A/C? as this seems to cause a few hearts to flutter!

[snowy]

When i first purchased my Tuscan(private sale), driving home i pulled into a garage to get some petrol, noticed a pool of water under the car, my heart was in my mouth, after getting it home, found that it was the air con, the best advice i got was to taste the stuff, if you spit it out, then more than likely it's engine coolant, if it's taste less then it will probably be the air con condensation dripping from one of the pipes.

Saying all that my Tuscan is in the garage with a coolant leak at the moment.

[adman]

i do have aircon, have had the heater on warm - can it still give you a puddle if u have it on warm

puddle when i stuck my finger in was watery, a little murky though, didn't smell of much if anything

[ec1 eex]

Have you checked your coolant level?

I wouldn't have expected condensation from an aircon at this time of year. I wouldn't have expected anyone to have the aircon turned on at this time of year

[brentstevens]

"I wouldn't have expected condensation from an aircon at this time of year. I wouldn't have expected anyone to have the aircon turned on at this time of year."

Possible reason - demisting a steamed up cockpit when it is raining hard?

[powerlord]

adman,

don't worry.

coolant smells of coolant.. and is blue (with tuscans) and will feel slimy to to touch (rub finger and thumb in it).

oil is oil....

what you have there is water by the sounds of it. it could just have dribbled down from a run off, aircon condensation (most likely), or I suppose leaked from your scoosher jets.

nowt to worry about.

[russian rocket]

snowy said:

When i first purchased my Tuscan(private sale), driving home i pulled into a garage to get some petrol, noticed a pool of water under the car, my heart was in my mouth, after getting it home, found that it was the air con, the best advice i got was to taste the stuff,

sweet - coolant
bitter - hydraulic fluid
smooth - oil
tasteless - condensation from air con
sharp - battery acid
peppery - cat pee

the true trick is to get somebody else to taste it at the same time as yourself, the difference being you taste a different finger to the one you dip

[powerlord]

russian rocket said:

peppery - cat pee

ah. that explains the old thing about putting pepper all over your garden to keep cats out.

there you go.. you live and learn.

the advancement of science is all about people like you Nige !

It's a bloke thing though init.... how close can I get my finger to the radiator fan.... what happens if I put my finger in the spark distributor....what does cat pee taste like...


stu

[adman]

Took it down to fernhurst last week and thankfully couldn't find any visible leaks, so may not panic so quick next time.

Thanks for all those who provided advice below - next time I will do the taste test, may save me driving 100+ miles for nothing next time early saturday mornings

[Stin Hambo]

If it's from the drivers side corner of the car then yes it's a coolant hose leak.

TVR didn't design the routing very well and it sometimes rests against the air conditioning pipe which causes the rubber to perish and become brittle and eventually split.

Just get some rubber seal tape and run over your coolant hse or just a new one!

[Bluey Green]

Happened to me last week. Ended up with a new radiator! Bah! At least the warranty covered it.

[Graham66]

You also have the fuel carbon canistor under the front right hand side of the car, any excess fuel from the tank (i.e. vapour on a hot day) is collected in to the canistor and fed in to the inlet at certain times (controlled by the ECU) but if it over fills it vents out through a rubber tube - so to add to the taste test it could be fuel!!

Graham

[Tuscan Bev]

After having my tuscan for 2 weeks (now had it for 6 weeks and loving it)I noticed somthing leaking out of the front right and/or left side which caused a it of panic. Various people thought it was just water from washing the car. When the leak persisted I put concentrated screen wash in and found it was leaking screen wash. So off came the bonnet (no easy task-need small long fingers to undo the ball joints) and side panel covering the lights to find an overflow pipe hanging down from the screen wash. After taping this up no more leaks of screen wash, but I still get clear water leaking through after washing the car.

[fireblade2000]

After 2 long drives in the Tuscan MK 2 I have noticed a large puddle underneath the front on the pasenger side of the car. The puddles had nearly dried out by the time I noticed and the water levels etc seem normal. Is this air-con condensation ? (whatever that is !!) or do I need to do other checks ? Maybe they all just 'sweat' a lot after a run !!!

[powerlord]

aircon. if it was coolant it wouldn't have dried out.

stu

[fireblade2000]

whew !! thanks