Unidentified leak

Nathanael Rusciolelli

Nathanael Rusciolelli

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
118
Location
North Carolina, United States
Noticed a little puddle from where my jeep usually sits, so I looked up underneath it to see where it was coming from. The drip is coming off of the skid plate and it looks like there is fluid collecting on the underside of the transmission. It seemed to be green in color but I don't think it was coolant. I also haven't noticed any symptoms when I'm driving. Is this stuff transmission fluid?
 
Green sure sounds like coolant. One possible source is the water pump's weep hole which is hidden behind its pulley. When the pump starts going bad, coolant starts leaking out of the weep hole. Pretty much any coolant leak is going to let the coolant blow backwards under the engine. But if you don't see any leaks at the hoses, odds are it's the water pump... if that green fluid is coolant.
 
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Nathanael Rusciolelli said:
I will check that. Is it common to find coolant dripping off the skid plate?
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First, coolant is the only green liquid in our Jeeps. Then, the skidplate has a lot of components above it that can drip various lubricants down onto it, and as described already, coolant can blow back onto it while driving. So nearly anything can be found dripping off the skidplate. And if it's green...
 
Jerry is right on the money (as usual). Coolant dripping from the skid plate is too vague. Get under there when you can and shine a light to see if you can pinpoint the exact source of the drip.

This has happened to me before with lots of vehicles, and it's always pretty easy to identify the source once you're under the car.
 
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Well I had the skid plate off today for a front driveshaft install (which didn't go entirely according to plan but that is another story). The color of the leakage seems to almost look blueish/gray to me now (although when I shined a flashlight on it, it still looks green). I took some pictures of what was on the skid plate as well as underneath where it is collecting. That large cylinder on the right of the second picture is the catalytic converter. Hopefully this helps
 
Okay, that's hard to tell, but it looks like a mixture of coolant and possibly axle grease.
 
Nathanael Rusciolelli said:
I think I'm going to clean the whole surface real good and see if it starts leaking around there again. Maybe I'll be able to tell better that way
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That's what I would do if it were me.

There's so much crap there that it's impossible to pinpoint where it's coming from.

Once you clean it up, you should be able to tell much easier.

In fact, sit under the vehicle while it's idling (in park) and you should be able to see where the coolant (or whatever) is slowly dripping from. That's how I always find my leaks.
 
sh!t thats some leak.

how is the TJ driving? does it sound crook?

visually inspect all fluid levels, i.e in your radiator, engine oil, etc something is prob getting low.

check the top of your engine around the head. it could be cracked or blown and coolant is mixing with engine oil dribbling down the back onto the plate.. or with any luck it could be something easy.

in any event your gonna need to HD degrease everything and find it, start with the engine and work your way back.

let us know how you go
 
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