2005 Big puddle of fluid on floor

[Jackie’s ride]

My wife came home this morning in high AZ. TEMP. morning, one hour later I went into the garage and discovered a big puddle of fluid under the car. It looks like at least 2 qt’s and was the same color as engine oil but appeared much thinner. I checked engine oil and it seemed almost completely full. Coolant was still full, No check engine light. I panicked and called a tow truck. Car is now at a private shop that I have used successfully for other cars. Can’t figure what it could be. Any ideas and I will let you all know when I get the bad news tomorrow or next day,

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[stevedaphotoman]

View attachment 2004 It looks like at least 2 qt’s and was the same color as engine oil but appeared much thinner. I checked engine oil and it seemed almost completely full. Coolant was still full, No check engine light.

Wow, sorry to hear that.. 2 quarts is a good amount of fluid.. You sure it wasn't a practical joke by someone who "thinks" they are a very good friend? Tranny fluid? That should be oily.. I'll be waiting for the prognosis.. Hopefully it won't be to bad..

 

[Transporter]

Did you bother to smell it? Could it be dirty water? I lived in El Paso when I was station at MCRD Fort Bliss. After driving in the heat and parking in the garage, there would always be a large puddle of condensated water under the car from running the AC. All that dirty dry road grime one picks up from the road would mix with the condensation as it forms into water and pools under the car. That never really smelled like oil or gasoline, more like earthy water. But it always looked like oil with some traces of brown in it. Like the old original synthetic oil looked when it had been sitting on a shelf and separated.

 

[Kalounda]

I have to agree with Transporter. Up here in Alberta, the humidity can get quite high - like 60-70%. It is very common, especially on a hot day, to get a huge puddle of liquid under the cat after it's turned off. Has your humidity been higher than usual by any chance?

 

[tbird]

Please include the model year in the subject of your post, I added it for you. Thanks for posting

 

[Jackie’s ride]

Did you bother to smell it? Could it be dirty water? I lived in El Paso when I was station at MCRD Fort Bliss. After driving in the heat and parking in the garage, there would always be a large puddle of condensated water under the car from running the AC. All that dirty dry road grime one picks up from the road would mix with the condensation as it forms into water and pools under the car. That never really smelled like oil or gasoline, more like earthy water. But it always looked like oil with some traces of brown in it. Like the old original synthetic oil looked when it had been sitting on a shelf and separated.

Smell it ? YES, and I even tasted it. It wasn’t the AC Condensation, I’m used to that. I would say it was most like coolant anti freeze except that still seemed to be full.

 

[Jody]

power top fluid

 

[Jackie’s ride]

Update : Turned out to be a cracked plastic thermostat housing . Most likely caused by over 13 years in the ARIZONA HEAT. had the shop replace all the other plastic stuff located in same area just in case. The day it happened my wife sat at idle at a Walgreens drug store for a long time in 107 outside temperature. which probably was the last straw on that plastic part. TOTAL PARTS 334.00 TOTAL LABOR 258.00. Seemed reasonable to me since they had to take a bunch of stuff off the engine to get to it. This was the first problem I have had in the 14 months and 6 thousand miles that I have had this car. NO MORE LONG IDILES

 

[Elsie]

Update : Turned out to be a cracked plastic thermostat housing . Most likely caused by over 13 years in the ARIZONA HEAT. had the shop replace all the other plastic stuff located in same area just in case. The day it happened my wife sat at idle at a Walgreens drug store for a long time in 107 outside temperature. which probably was the last straw on that plastic part. TOTAL PARTS 334.00 TOTAL LABOR 258.00. Seemed reasonable to me since they had to take a bunch of stuff off the engine to get to it. This was the first problem I have had in the 14 months and 6 thousand miles that I have had this car. NO MORE LONG IDILES

Did you replace the radiator hoses too? I "blew" both the upper and lower radiator hoses - it wasn't the rubber hose that blew but the plastic connectors in those hoses that cracked. You did the right thing all those plastic parts seem to crack.

 

[Jackie’s ride]

They checked the hoses and said they were fine, Connectors, I didn’t think of that but will take a look. THANKS

 

[stevedaphotoman]

I'm glad it wasn't tranny or something real major.. I just made the appointment for our 02 to go into the shop on Monday for the rear control arms.. They will check which ones need replacing and order the parts.. The parts should be only one day away.. I have a feeling it's both uppers and lowers on both sides.. At least that's what I can see with my flash light Then an wheel alignment.. I hope to only have to do a major repair once a year.. I can live with that.. Lucky for that sexy red T-bird that it looks so good and fun to drive or.... 🙂

 

[Richard Dunn]

View attachment 2004 My wife came home this morning in high AZ. TEMP. morning, one hour later I went into the garage and discovered a big puddle of fluid under the car. It looks like at least 2 qt’s and was the same color as engine oil but appeared much thinner. I checked engine oil and it seemed almost completely full. Coolant was still full, No check engine light. I panicked and called a tow truck. Car is now at a private shop that I have used successfully for other cars. Can’t figure what it could be. Any ideas and I will let you all know when I get the bad news tomorrow or next day,

Could be power steering control module, had the same problem with my 02

 

[gen2cudas]

View attachment 2004 My wife came home this morning in high AZ. TEMP. morning, one hour later I went into the garage and discovered a big puddle of fluid under the car. It looks like at least 2 qt’s and was the same color as engine oil but appeared much thinner. I checked engine oil and it seemed almost completely full. Coolant was still full, No check engine light. I panicked and called a tow truck. Car is now at a private shop that I have used successfully for other cars. Can’t figure what it could be. Any ideas and I will let you all know when I get the bad news tomorrow or next day,

Morning. New to forum; had similar problem last week; bought all the parts to replace the thermostat housing from Ford- and I also noticed all of the plastic connectors between the radiator hoses. NOT interested in my Wife being stranded in the Texas heat- I want to replace ALL hoses, belt and flush the coolant since “the Duchess” is 13 years old (steel blue 2005 Anniversary Edition, Second owner). So, where do you wrench handy folks usually go to find these one-off parts? That's the Damnedess hose routing and collection of plastic I‘ve ever seen on the front of an engine before....and I have a Lincoln Mark VIII with that crazy plumbing manifold on it. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Marianne]

Where does the ac drain? I just drove my 2005 Thunderbird home from the dealership after a rear brake job and there’s a puddle under the drivers side door. Any ideas?

 

[Merk]

Update : Turned out to be a cracked plastic thermostat housing . Most likely caused by over 13 years in the ARIZONA HEAT. had the shop replace all the other plastic stuff located in same area just in case. The day it happened my wife sat at idle at a Walgreens drug store for a long time in 107 outside temperature. which probably was the last straw on that plastic part. TOTAL PARTS 334.00 TOTAL LABOR 258.00. Seemed reasonable to me since they had to take a bunch of stuff off the engine to get to it. This was the first problem I have had in the 14 months and 6 thousand miles that I have had this car. NO MORE LONG IDILES

It's not the long idle it's just the cheap plastic crap they used on the cooling system I had the same problem along with probably everyone else who owns one of these t birds
Still like the car just a real quirky ford