Polar vortex left pink slimy mess under Jeep

Mg2

New Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
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15
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Michigan
Hi all, newbie here at the forum and to working on Jeeps. I bought my 06 LJ last year with 120k on it. I've been slowly replacing worn parts. I had the the Jeep outside during the last Polar Vortex. Then suddenly we had two days in the 40's. While going to get the mail on the second warm day, I saw a pink slimy mess under the Jeep. Any ideas??? Help!

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That's either ATF fluid or coolant. Could be power steering fluid as well I suppose.

You need to inspect under your Jeep for leaks.
 
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I'll have to crawl under there to take a better look when the weather is a little better. Seems like the leaking is done. There was quite a bit. That's for the direction and a place to start!
 
Are you sure it's yours?

Is it oily looking? Could be a cracked windshield washer fluid bottle.
 
Check your tranny cooler lines, mine just developed a small hole in the hard line where the plastic keeper holds it to the the block, repaired it with some 3/8" soft line and hose clamps till I decide to cave and give mopar 150 bucks for new lines or make my own.

But it could other things chris mentioned but your origin point looks similar to where my LJ was leaking.
 
Check your tranny cooler lines, mine just developed a small hole in the hard line where the plastic keeper holds it to the the block, repaired it with some 3/8" soft line and hose clamps till I decide to cave and give mopar 150 bucks for new lines or make my own.

But it could other things chris mentioned but your origin point looks similar to where my LJ was leaking.
I'll check those while I'm down there. I just had two tranny cooler lines replaced last spring. Really hope that not it. Did yours leak that much out?
 
I'll check those while I'm down there. I just had two tranny cooler lines replaced last spring. Really hope that not it. Did yours leak that much out?

If they were changed perhaps something just came loose.

First it doesn't take much to look bad when its thin on the ground and mixing with melting snow and ice, second with the 2 extremes in temperature so quickly that can cause contraction then rapid expansion and force more out then normal and create a siphoning effect. Hard to tell really just happen to notice your origin point was similar, with similar year vehicle in similar climate, just a stab to start looking.

You could open the hood and check fluids top side and see what's low, of course tranny will be hard to gauge wo it warm and running.
 
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If they were changed perhaps something just came loose.

First it doesn't take much to look bad when its thin on the ground and mixing with melting snow and ice, second with the 2 extremes in temperature so quickly that can cause contraction then rapid expansion and force more out then normal and create a siphoning effect. Hard to tell really just happen to notice your origin point was similar, with similar year vehicle in similar climate, just a stab to start looking.

You could open the hood and check fluids top side and see what's low, of course tranny will be hard to gauge wo it warm and running.
Thanks!! Good to see another LJ owner out there!
 
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Not from jeep experience but general equipment exposed to very cold weather I have seen hoses leak due to the contraction from the cold, if there are hose clamps they don't always contract as much as what they are clamping. Having warmed up the leak could be gone by now.
Best of luck,

B
 
One winter when I was stationed in Korea, I guarded a ship in Inchon harbor, that had a Cat Road Grader tied down on the deck.
Liking machinery, I nosed around then did a double-take; from front to back, a slab of the side of the engine was broken by ice! They failed to put antifreeze in the engine. Or, more likely, the antifreeze was stolen and replaced along the way.
Looked way worse than this.

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I'm just here to find out what that pink slimy mess is since I'm too far away to come over, touch it with one finger, rub it between that finger and my thumb, then take a whiff. FWIW... The old days of touching it to my tongue have passed.
I had cleaned this up but had some in a baggy. I took it to a parts store this morning (not a chain) and he took a sniff and said ATF. The evidence is starting to mount. Now, we need a motive. LOL
 
One winter when I was stationed in Korea, I guarded a ship in Inchon harbor, that had a Cat Road Grader tied down on the deck.
Liking machinery, I nosed around then did a double-take; from front to back, a slab of the side of the engine was broken by ice! They failed to put antifreeze in the engine. Or, more likely, the antifreeze was stolen and replaced along the way.
Looked way worse than this.

View attachment 76027
First, thank you for your service! Horrifying what ice can do! I can rule out anti freeze. Put in a new radiator in late summer with pre mixed stuff so I couldn't mess it up. Really starting to look like it might be Trans Fluid.