Possible fluid leak - guidance needed

[Rhyanski]

Hi folks, as some may know, I had a bump on the front underbelly pan and broke it. Today when I left the garage I saw several oily spots on the ground, however these were on such random spots that I can't figure out where these are possibly coming from.
My assumptions are the following:
1. there's a spot on front left somewhere around front left wheel, however it does not seem to be below the gearbox cooler. It is more like just below the grille opening for the fog lights.
2. There's a spot, actually two spots very close one to the other, somewhere around the middle (dead center) of the car. The gear shifter is too much to the front related to the spots. The spots actually appear closer or just under the resonator connecting clamp.

Being on the ground, it is hard to judge the color of the leak, but it seemed to be reddish and not greenish, still it is greasy/oily substance, with a peculiar smell of antifreeze.

My best guess is this may be either the differential cooling fluid or gearbox cooling fluid, but I'm not sure.
Can someone advise what's the color of these fluids?

The antifreeze of the car is greenish, and too far upfront the leak to be engine coolant. As far as I know the other cooling fluids are actually "cooling oil", so I assume if this is oil, it should be either yellowish or brownish in color. I doubt this is brakes fluid and I don't see any abnormal behavior of the brakes, but still if the brakes line is broken/pinched, what would be the color of the fluid and the smell?

I've spent some time lying and observing the underneath of the car (I don't have a jack to raise it and observe it) , but there's no dripping at all, so another assumption is that when the car cools off and the joints shrink, there may be some leak.

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[murick]

The gearbox coolant is a reddish, water like substance, not very oily at first sight.

 

[Brisvegas]

Take it somewhere and put it on a lift and get a pro to look at it . Cannot cost much and should be a definitive way to find out . Assume nothing

 

[Nitrousfedlx]

Maybe a dumb question but why do own a $60k $70k car and not own a decent floor jack and jack stands? Not trying to bust ur bubble BTW. LOL. That would allow u to take ur time and remove all the splash guards and visually inspect every inch of the undercarriage.

 

[cerbomark]

Brake fluid is clear when fairly new.
I don t think you should judge the locations as stuff can drip and run especially under those covers. I d certainly do as suggested and lift the car, take the cover down and do a complete checks especially that you damaged the cover.

 

[Rhyanski]

Maybe a dumb question but why do own a $60k $70k car and not own a decent floor jack and jack stands? Not trying to bust ur bubble BTW. LOL. That would allow u to take ur time and remove all the splash guards and visually inspect every inch of the undercarriage.

Not all of us live in a house with a garage to accommodate all the gear we want. Thank God at least I have a garage and don't need to look for parking space every evening. It doesn't really have anything to do with the price of the car, there's no place for a proper jack. I was thinking about those portable ones, but maybe later this year once I figure out where to store it in the garage.

I booked an appointment with the dealership service today. When I left the garage, I intentionally checked if there are any spots / marks on the ground, and there was nothing. Like as if it never happened. Even the ones from the morning were missing, and if these were oil or other oil-based substance, they would've left greasy spots. So to my surprise there was absolutely no sign of these at all...

Went to the dealership and we went under the car together. It was completely dry. No marks, no spots, nothing. Not even scratches on the belly. We removed the cover under the engine - nothing there as well. All fluids in nominal ranges....

Now I recall that today in the morning it was very sunny, but the temperature was about 5 Celsius (41 F) and I saw the spots when I parked the car and was leaving the garage. I am wandering whether when I was backing into the garage, there was some kind of condensation on the exhaust tips as they were still cold / not too warm. If this is such a trivial reason for the marks, that made me sweat all over and banging my head which system may be leaking, I definitely have become overly too careful after I smashed the underbelly pan.

I will still monitor it during the next days for marks again.

 

[Charlemagne]

Most Ferrari owners don't service their own cars. Mustang slowly gets to that territory

Leaks suck, hope you get it sorted out soon.

 

[Nitrousfedlx]

Not all of us live in a house with a garage to accommodate all the gear we want. Thank God at least I have a garage and don't need to look for parking space every evening. It doesn't really have anything to do with the price of the car, there's no place for a proper jack. I was thinking about those portable ones, but maybe later this year once I figure out where to store it in the garage.

I booked an appointment with the dealership service today. When I left the garage, I intentionally checked if there are any spots / marks on the ground, and there was nothing. Like as if it never happened. Even the ones from the morning were missing, and if these were oil or other oil-based substance, they would've left greasy spots. So to my surprise there was absolutely no sign of these at all...

Went to the dealership and we went under the car together. It was completely dry. No marks, no spots, nothing. Not even scratches on the belly. We removed the cover under the engine - nothing there as well. All fluids in nominal ranges....

Now I recall that today in the morning it was very sunny, but the temperature was about 5 Celsius (41 F) and I saw the spots when I parked the car and was leaving the garage. I am wandering whether when I was backing into the garage, there was some kind of condensation on the exhaust tips as they were still cold / not too warm. If this is such a trivial reason for the marks, that made me sweat all over and banging my head which system may be leaking, I definitely have become overly too careful after I smashed the underbelly pan.

I will still monitor it during the next days for marks again.

Gotcha. For a little extra money u can get a billet aluminum floor jack that's light enough to carry it in and out of ur place like store it in ur closet. Ur probably right about it just being condensation if the spots are gone. So that's good news! I started mine yesterday and haven't drove the car in about a month or so. I let it idle for about 10 to 15 mins before driving it and it did drip condensation drops of water out of the exhaust tips. Funny thing is it told me I needed to change the oil because it has 2% oil life remaining. I haven't put 100 miles on the car in the last 6 months!

 

[Rael]

Maybe a dumb question but why do own a $60k $70k car and not own a decent floor jack and jack stands? Not trying to bust ur bubble BTW. LOL. That would allow u to take ur time and remove all the splash guards and visually inspect every inch of the undercarriage.

You made me laugh. I have jack stands only because I needed them once in order to repair our washing machine. I did buy a good floor jack a couple of years ago, but it was a gift for my nephew. (I'm not sure he's used it yet.)

 

[Nitrousfedlx]

You made me laugh. I have jack stands only because I needed them once in order to repair our washing machine. I did buy a good floor jack a couple of years ago, but it was a gift for my nephew. (I'm not sure he's used it yet.)

Do u guys not own lawnmowers or golf carts or do y'alls own oil changes!? I use wheel chalks, ramps, floor jack, jack stands to maintenance all my motorized stuff! LOL!

 

[Rhyanski]

Do u guys not own lawnmowers or golf carts or do y'alls own oil changes!? I use wheel chalks, ramps, floor jack, jack stands to maintenance all my motorized stuff! LOL!

Nope, I live in the concrete jungle, no lawnmowers or golf carts in 50km range... I have a jackhammer though. Does what it is designed for quite well, and it requires greasing from time to time as well...

Last time I installed the jacking rails I used a manual jack from the tire kit like this one

And also the jack stands to support the car, and got under to install them... It took me longer to raise / lower the car than actually install the jacking rails. And then I had a pain in the shoulder from winding the bloody thing down and up for a week...

 

[Nitrousfedlx]

Nope, I live in the concrete jungle, no lawnmowers or golf carts in 50km range... I have a jackhammer though. Does what it is designed for quite well, and it requires greasing from time to time as well...

Last time I installed the jacking rails I used a manual jack from the tire kit like this one

And also the jack stands to support the car, and got under to install them... It took me longer to raise / lower the car than actually install the jacking rails. And then I had a pain in the shoulder from winding the bloody thing down and up for a week...

too funny! I have jacking rails too. I love those things as we never have to touch a pinch weld!

 

[Charlemagne]

I love those things as we never have to touch a pinch weld!

I never understood this, is that a religious thing? Works fine for me without any damage to the pinch weld twice a year to switch wheel sets, though I have bigger hydraulic jack with hard plastic on the contact area. Oil change is at Ford's dealer for warranty purposes and what else normal user needs to do under her?

 

[Nitrousfedlx]

I never understood this, is that a religious thing? Works fine for me without any damage to the pinch weld twice a year to switch wheel sets, though I have bigger hydraulic jack with hard plastic on the contact area. Oil change is at Ford's dealer for warranty purposes and what else normal user needs to do under her?

LOL! I get that the pinch welds are designed for that. It's just the thought of 2 tons or whatever resting on a 1/8th inch thick piece of vertical metal. LOL! I do like the plastic pucks with the notches in them. However, jacking rails are cheap and I can throw the jack/jack stands pretty much anywhere between the front and rear wheels.

 

[Rhyanski]

With our bumpy roads, no matter how much sideways I try to pass over an obstacle, there are occasions where I get a bump on one side. This is where the rails add the extra benefit, as they're the ones protruding the most, so nothing smashes...

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