Random leaks, looking for some insight.

1710 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by ChevyGuy, Mar 16, 2017

Djentlemanjoe

Discussion Starter · Mar 16, 2017

Good morning Cruze forums,
I drive a duramax so forgive my ignorance if I describe things a little funky, cars aren't my strong suit. This is my first post and this seems like the best area to post this. I live up in NH with my girlfriend and we got hit with storm stella the other day, nearly 2 feet of snow.

I get a call from my girlfriend yesterday at work and had to go help shovel her out as she was plowed in, we get her car out and I noticed some leaks in the snow as she pulled out. one leak was right underneath where the engine would be and was reddish in color. there where also smaller drops of green to the right of the red drop. I did a little bit of research and it seems it could be AC condenser that got hit with some rocks, she lived far north in NH where dirt roads are common so I would not be surprised if a rock was the culprit of this. My immediate thought to the reddish fluid would be transmission, but when I checked out the engine bay I noticed it was rather low on coolant but I also haven't ruled out power steering either. I was unable to fill her coolant as my truck was flushed and refilled to green coolant when I had gaskets done and I know you're not to supposed to mix green with orange coolant.

Would an AC condenser still leak in winter? even if the heat is on?

Is there a way to check transmission fluids on these? I didn't notice a dipstick and I know some smaller cars don't even have a transmission dipstick.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Joey

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carbon02

· #2 · Mar 16, 2017 (Edited)

Joey-

It would be good to know the model, engine, and trans for this car.

The power steering is electric, there is no fluid.

The coolant from the factory is orange dexcool.

Red would be transmission fluid for an automatic. There is no dipstick on either the 1.8L or 1.4L automatic transmission. There is a level bolt on the side of the transmission case on the drivers side, right behind the axle.

There's a whole procedure for checking this. Check out Cruze Transmission fluid on youtube..

I'm guessing it might be the transmission lines that run from the trans to the radiator area. They tend to leak where they are crimped and transition from 3/8" metal line to rubber.

Some people have mentioned they are covered as part of the 5 year/100,000 powertrain warranty, others have said they are not.

AC Condenser is mainly refrigerant gas, with a small amount of oil. This would leave you with no AC, but wouldn't leave marks in the snow.

The tranny lines are in the front of the car and easy to inspect, not so easy to remove in winter without a heated shop. I ended up paying for mine to get replaced. $320 labor and parts for both hoses for the 1.4L. Independent shop.

Good Luck..

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Djentlemanjoe

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 16, 2017

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure any information on this car I think she said it's a 1.8l and I know it's an automatic. I thought it was transmission as soon as I noticed the red color but wasnt sure if maybe some coolant is leaking and made that spot. I'll check the transmission lines when I get home.

That green spill is what is most baffling to me. It's a odd green/yellow color. She got an extended warranty with the car, 4 years to be exact and she's had it just over a year so I reckon something like this is covered. Pretty sure it's a 2012 but I'm not certain.

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obermd

· #4 · Mar 16, 2017

The A/C refrigerant is green. The A/C lines and the transmission cooling lines run close together so it's possible that you had a rock damage both.

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ChevyGuy

· #5 · Mar 16, 2017

Djentlemanjoe said:
Pretty sure it's a 2012 but I'm not certain.

Later years had a rock guard installed on the A/C condenser. Looking around, it appears that 2011 and some 2012 did not have that. You can find a little more in this thread.

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