[Cebra]

Woke up to a line of this water in my garage. After driving a little with a/c off it still drips. Any idea what this fluid is. Tastes a little basic.

https://youtube.com/shorts/oTIROP-SkfI?feature=shared

[gaze2]

Is it clear but oily? Coolant most likely then, open hood and try to find where it is starting from, not where its ending

[fleetfoot]

Reminds me of when I swapped brake pads, overflowed the brake fluid reservoir, and it leaked under the car. Looked just like an AC condensation drip, but the fluid was slightly amber. I would guess you’re looking at brake fluid.

[oVeRdOsE.]

- brake fluid
- coolant
- blocked rain drains

[Efthreeoh]

Way too far from the center of the car to be AC condensation. Most likely coolant, but it's clear, and you didn't mention what it smells like. Basic taste is not what coolant tastes like. Location would indicate a cooling system leak. What is the history of the car? Do you know what type coolant is in it?

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Way too far from the center of the car to be AC condensation. Most likely coolant, but it's clear, and you didn't mention what it smells like. Basic taste is not what coolant tastes like. Location would indicate a cooling system leak. What is the history of the car? Do you know what type coolant is in it?

That's more or less what I was going to say. These radiators tend to leak along the sides and then drip down onto the undertray, which would correspond with where this is dripping. I would take a closer look there, maybe remove the undertray and take a look.

[Cebra]

Hello guys,

Thanks for your insights. I smelled the little trail on my garage and it seems odourless but I am not the best when it comes to sense of smell.

I checked the coolant and it is indeed low. I’ll be bringing this to my mechanic tomorrow. My question is would I be prompted by some sort of light or by sone other indicator when the engine is overheating. In other words, am I damaging the engine?

Best

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Cebra

Hello guys,

Thanks for your insights. I smelled the little trail on my garage and it seems odourless but I am not the best when it comes to sense of smell.

I checked the coolant and it is indeed low. I’ll be bringing this to my mechanic tomorrow. My question is would I be prompted by some sort of light or by sone other indicator when the engine is overheating. In other words, am I damaging the engine?

Best

If the engine is overheating an indicator will illuminate between the gauges. If the coolant level is low, a low coolant level indictor will illuminate. The owner's manual has a section on the various icons and colors of the icons and what they mean when lit. Coolant has a sweet smell. BMW's coolant is blue. Try capturing some drops in a white cup to check the color. Based on the rate of the drop formation, the liquid is low viscosity, so it is not an oil.
My bet is the upper radiator hose is leaking either at the radiator or the heater hose that connects at the bottom of the radiator-side connector, or possibly the vent line nipple is cracked.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

It should be pretty clear if it's water or not. I agree AC water usually doesn't come out there but maybe there is a incline that makes it go there? That looks like water but only you can determine what it really is.

Cut a plastic water bottle and half and put it under the drip so that it can accumulate and pool up, it should then give you agood indication of the fluid color.

[lookalikehuuh]

This is a super common radiator leak when they start to leak at the plastic endcap joint. As long as you didn't run the car dry you should be fine and your car won't have overheated. Your mechanic should be able to replace the radiator and bleed the system pretty quickly.


I can do it in like 40min-1hr myself now since I've had the same thing happen a few times to my cars.

[GoRomeo]

Yeah most likely a burst coolant hose or radiator leak.

[Cebra]

Hello guys,

Thanks for all your suggestions it has been very helpful. I placed a water bottle as suggested and it looks like wiper fluid.



My theory is that it is a faulty headlight washer. Any suggestions?
https://youtube.com/shorts/U_6Btt6JVyM?feature=shared

[lookalikehuuh]

Originally Posted by Cebra

Hello guys,

Thanks for all your suggestions it has been very helpful. I placed a water bottle as suggested and it looks like wiper fluid.

Attachment 3543143

My theory is that it is a faulty headlight washer. Any suggestions?
https://youtube.com/shorts/U_6Btt6JVyM?feature=shared

It's definitely blinker fluid

Is your headlight washer fluid that color? If so then you might have your suspect.

[STATIC A$TRO]

Originally Posted by Cebra

Hello guys,

Thanks for all your suggestions it has been very helpful. I placed a water bottle as suggested and it looks like wiper fluid.

Attachment 3543143

My theory is that it is a faulty headlight washer. Any suggestions?
https://youtube.com/shorts/U_6Btt6JVyM?feature=shared

dont blame you for tasting it, glad you found your issue.

[oVeRdOsE.]

oh right, had this issue on my sloped driveway.

I've simply cancelled the headlight wahser

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by Cebra

Hello guys,

Thanks for your insights. I smelled the little trail on my garage and it seems odourless but I am not the best when it comes to sense of smell.

I checked the coolant and it is indeed low. I’ll be bringing this to my mechanic tomorrow. My question is would I be prompted by some sort of light or by sone other indicator when the engine is overheating. In other words, am I damaging the engine?

Best

There will be a warning light, but if concerned I would just activate the hidden menu select menu 7 to keep an eye on the coolant temp while driving.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Cebra

Hello guys,

Thanks for all your suggestions it has been very helpful. I placed a water bottle as suggested and it looks like wiper fluid.

Attachment 3543143

My theory is that it is a faulty headlight washer. Any suggestions?
https://youtube.com/shorts/U_6Btt6JVyM?feature=shared

Ahhh my trick worked! I never actually used it yet but thought of it as I was typing. Color helps a lot

If you are 100% sure that is your windshield washer color (RainX stuff eh?) then it must be that. I mention this because some cars have that color coolant and perhaps someone used that coolant in your car although it is not the right coolant (if you recently bought this car or not aware of the service history for example).

[Cebra]

Hello guys,

This is indeed the color of my wiper fluid. I’ll check if it is the headlight washer that’s leaking and keep you all updated. Thanks again to all of you!

[Cebra]

Hello again everyone,

It indeed turned out to be a faulty headlight washer, the unit was leaking. I swapped it and the washer fluid loss is now gone.

When installing lux angel eyes, I also noticed the right one to be faulty as well with fluid deposited around the right side unit but it wasn't really dripping so I didn't change that one yet.

Best

[slahm]

Good catch on that, I wish I had though to collect enough to see the color when I was trying to find the same thing...