Mystery Leak

[KVY107]

I have a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country with the proverbial mystery leak. Only because it does not happen all of the time, it can be a week before I see something, then I see it for a day or two, then nothing again. When the leak does occur it is on the passenger side front, not far from the tire. The bar underneath the vehicle seems wet and there is moisture inside the wheel well. The fluid is not oil of any kind as it does not permanently stain the concrete or have the feeling of oil. It feels slightly sticky but maybe it is the ground. I have checked all my fluid levels and they are OK. I did add a very small amount of coolant to the reservoir overflow bottle but when the leak does occur the overflow still looks OK and the temperarure levels are fine. Any ideas before I go to a mechanic and get ripped off. Thanks

[Stretch58]

I had a very small intermittent leak in the same area, turned out to be the timing case cover. As mine has about 119K now, I fixed that and replaced the timing chain at the same time. Could either be an oil or coolant leak there.
Another thing, are you sure it is not just condensate from the A/C coming out of the drain? Not sure of your location but here we are in the heating season, not A/C.

[RIP]

Put a drip pan, pie tin or something metal under the van to catch the leak. If it has a green, yellow, or orange tint and it's slightly slimmy it's coolant. If it's brown and very slimmy it's oil. If it's red and slimmy it's transmission fluid.

Based on the area described I'm betting it's as Stretch58 stated or coolant leaking at the lower rad hose connection or out the weep hole on the bottom of the pump.

[1thunder]

i'm thinking it's your a/c condensor drain this is where it drains eaven if you are using the heater in defrost mode this does happen and is normal you must worry if it doesn't drain it then usually migrates under the carpet causing bigger problems

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by KVY107

I have a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country with the proverbial mystery leak. Only because it does not happen all of the time, it can be a week before I see something, then I see it for a day or two, then nothing again. When the leak does occur it is on the passenger side front, not far from the tire. The bar underneath the vehicle seems wet and there is moisture inside the wheel well. The fluid is not oil of any kind as it does not permanently stain the concrete or have the feeling of oil. It feels slightly sticky but maybe it is the ground. I have checked all my fluid levels and they are OK. I did add a very small amount of coolant to the reservoir overflow bottle but when the leak does occur the overflow still looks OK and the temperarure levels are fine. Any ideas before I go to a mechanic and get ripped off. Thanks

Are you sure it is not water draining from the ac evaporator ?
If it was a engine fluid leak it would have some color.
Throw a piece of white paper under it and see what color it is on the paper.

[KVY107]

I brought the vehicle to my mechanic and I was informed that the leak is coming from the power steering rack. Being the van has only 11,000 miles and is 2 years old he told me just to take it back to the dealer as it is still under warranty. Needless to say I will never buy Chrysler again, this is the third time I have leased vans (brand new) and each time there was a problem early on. Guess I should have learned my lesson already, anyway thanks to all that answered my original post

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by KVY107

I brought the vehicle to my mechanic and I was informed that the leak is coming from the power steering rack. Being the van has only 11,000 miles and is 2 years old he told me just to take it back to the dealer as it is still under warranty. Needless to say I will never buy Chrysler again, this is the third time I have leased vans (brand new) and each time there was a problem early on. Guess I should have learned my lesson already, anyway thanks to all that answered my original post

Thanks for posting back how it went.
Glad you found the leak.
I was just wondering on a leased vehicle if the repair is not under warranty does the lease company pick up the repair tab?
MT