Car rear-ended, water leaking from under engine?

[Pocket10s]

Hi there,

Our car got rear-ended at the lights, no major damage apart from a crumbled bumper that popped right back out.

However, just after the accident some fluid was leaking from under the car. You could see a stream of it. No warning lights came on the drive home but upon parking I noticed it was still dripping slightly after we turned the engine off.

After turning the engine back on and checking underneath the car, it did'nt seem to come out anymore.

I tried to inspect the liquid, it was not oil, seemed to be water (odourless and evaporates).

Should I get this checked out?

 

[geekman]

Did you have the AC on? It might just be water draining from the AC, which is totally normal.

 

[JRS]

Did you have the AC on? It might just be water draining from the AC, which is totally normal.

I would concur with this. The jolt probably just disturbed wherever water from the AC had collected.

 

[Sinbad2000]

Agreed. There shouldn't be any colourless odourless water in your car... You'd smell it if it was a leak of something important.

 

[JRS]

Agreed. There shouldn't be any colourless odourless water in your car... You'd smell it if it was a leak of something important.

This is a good point. The AC system  should be the only place you'd find neat water - cooling system should have a coolant mix, hydraulics obviously have their fluids, etc.

 

[LuckyBenski]

Errrr... Have you checked all the fluids just in case?

 

[Ali195]

Rear wiper fluid maybe? If the reservoir is empty then fill it up, see if it leaks again when you engage rear sprinkler.

 

[adam cool dude]

As long as you did the taste test and it was water then it was 99% condensation from AC running.

 

[RobTi]

have this on mine after parking up after using the air con, it's a bit worrying the first time but used to it now

 

[Mel_P]

Isn't the rear wiper screen washer supplied from the reservoir under the bonnet? Most likely this plastic tube or a connector in rear broken?

 

[Scania]

Almost certainly A/C condensation, I noticed a similar very small pool of clear water under my car last night when checking my tyre pressures, I’d been sat with the engine running for a few minutes whilst waiting for the air line with my two - panting - German Shepherds in the car, the A/C was in full as they both are long haired and get hot in the car no matter what the weather, I was a little concerned as I had a >200 mile trip today, I’m now in Norfolk on holiday and thankfully the coolant - and other fluids - haven’t dropped at all.

That said, after a rear end bump, I’d be mindful of things like a ruptured washer fluid line although it sounds unlikely I’d say.

 

[Tee Hee Johnson]

Is a pool of water normal from A/C? I get drips and sometimes what id consider a 50p sized wet mark on the ground.

But describing it as a pool seems a bit much?

 

[Meaker]

Is a pool of water normal from A/C? I get drips and sometimes what id consider a 50p sized wet mark on the ground.

But describing it as a pool seems a bit much?

Depends on the conditions but yeah, you can get a puddle from it.