Okay, im not sure whats going on here and i hope somebody can help me. I went to start my 2003 monte carlo (3400) earlier and it would not start, i had to crank it for 5 mins to get it going which worried me, i had to go to walmart and i left it running while i went in cause i was worried it might not start again, anyways on my way out of the store i noticed a sort of big puddle of light brown liquid right under the front of my car (in front of the drivers side front tire),i hurried up and got home and shut it off, i got under there and noticed it was leaking but im not sure what part it is, i have attached pictures, hopefully somebody can help me and let me know what part this is as i could not find what part it is in the manual, it only leaks when it's running and it aint leaking as bad now, brakes seem fine, steering seems fine, oil is fine so im not sure, thanks in advance. BTW the padding in the picture im not sure if it was there already or if it came off the car, so i took a pic anyways, it might be unrelated and the 3 pics are of the part leaking (the part i think is leaking) and the other pic is the color of the liquid leaking.

 

sorry, i had a problem uploading the pictures..

 

Sorry, I'm not sure what it is either (?)

I hope a member can help you ! Good Luck

 

Describe exactly where this photo was taken please. Might help get a better idea to assist in a problem solver.


Just looking at the photo's you provided it appears that some plug blew out??? But that's just a wild guess.
The brown fluid appears to be from the coolant system. You may also smell something like hot anti-freeze when you get close to the car.
When was the last time you had a coolant flush?
Leaks can come from the hoses also. If the hose appears intact squeeze it to see if it is spongey. It may need to be replaced. It's good practice to change hoses every 2 years.

 

I called my pops over and we jacked it up and got under it and dabbed the spot with a napkin and it had pink fluid on it, i thought it was brown due to low light and not dabbing to begin with or maybe i got grease but i checked all the fluids and wiped the dipsticks and it appears to be trans fluid, or trans axle fluid, i ran it and the trans fluid was super super low so im on my way to get a quart, i guess it all leaked out last night, i mean that has to be it cause it matches color and was extremely low, im gonna take it to my local shop and hope it aint nothing too serious, i dont think it's the coolant now and no i havent changed the hoses or checked them, i bought the car used with 112000 miles and only had a oil change done last month, il keep you guys posted and it's dripping about a foot in front of the front driver side tire, like right behind the radiator area..

 

I can check the hoses a little bit later on and see if they are spongey, plus i have not had a coolant flush since i had it for the 6 months i have, i have no idea if previous owners did but before i bought it the car had been sitting for about a year i guess.

 

hope the shop is helpful,
unattended to Dexcool gets pretty nasty, rust to even almost brown in color
when I bought my Monte discovered that it been over looked and had to flush and replaces thermostat twice from the junk old dex leaves in the system

 

Hi Bill.
If it's pink then you would be correct about the transmission fluid. Based on the location you described I would bet that the leak is from the transmission cooler line where it connects into the trans. cooler at the lower passenger side below the radiator (looks like the lower part of the radiator). Could be from either the quick connect fitting or the line itself.

 

like I said, awesome people here

let us know what the shop says

 

Okay, I took it to the shop and it turns out it was the radiator leaking, it had some old crappy radiator in it and somebody tried fixing it, it had bondo or some kind of glue holding it together and plugging some gaps, the shop guy called me laughing saying it was the "most jimmy rigged radiator" he ever seen, cost about 250 to buy a new one and have em put it in.

I don't know why it was leaking tranny fluid though, cause what i found was for sure pink fluid and my tranny fluid was really low.