[Jeffreysachs]

Hey guys,

I picked up my car used about a month ago and the car was perfectly clean under the hood. Unfortunately, I think I might have a leak because it is looking pretty dirty under there in one month and I don't think its normal.

Do you think the brown stuff on the hoses and the intake pipe a coolant leak or something else?

Brown on the hoses and maybe a little white in the upper right (just noticed the while when posting this pic)
7bde8f58ae8a3c4d69abf90318dea44f.png

Intake with brown stuff
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The car runs super quite and without any noticeable noises or hiccups. The temp gauge is pegged pretty low and has never gone up from its typical resting point just below the midway point.

Another piece of the equation is that I just put new tires on it (Cooper Zeon RS3-A) which I really like but might have a little blooming going on. So I was wondering if that little bloom dust was getting up there.. Here is a pic of the brown powder accumulating on these tires that i didn't have before switching.
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Side note, I really like these tires. Other than this new brown powder thing. I felt noticeably less road resistance and love the handling.

Thanks for the help!

 

[cris_crozz]

looks to me like regular dirt? where are you located? only difference is that because when you buy a used car they detail the car and wipe the engine & other parts within the engine bay with some sticky cleaning chemicals. does not look anything unusual to me. IMHM there's nothing to worry. But if want to be sure, you would want to clean the engine again with something non sticky/greasy and then see after a few days if same dust accumulation happens.

 

[Jeffreysachs]

I live and NYC and have only gone between the city and my parents in CT. Little to no dirt on the roads but it could be regular old dirt i guess... It would be strange to me that dirt would be concentrated in the back of the engine bay and no where else on the car.

The attention grabber for me to even open the hood were the two brownish/greyish streaks coming from the corners of the hood and the grill. It could be rain/dirt but it is residue I don't want to see. Made me immediately think overheating and smoke or something was coming out of the hood that left these marks. Again, when driving I didn't see smoke or anything just these streaks after I parked. Paranoid after buying a used car I guess...

Hard to get a great pic but you can see it ok. There is a streak like this on both sides of the grill.
imgur: the simple image sharer

I really think it might be from the same brown powder on the wheels being thrown up under the hood and then out the front. Is that possible/likely? I know the brown on the tires is not dirt because i wipe it off the side walls and it comes right back without ever driving over dirt, plus the sides of the car show no signs of dirt, I have to believe they are just "blooming" tires.

I have been driving in the same conditions every weekend for the past 4 weeks. This is the first weekend with these tires and the first time I see these issues so it makes we wonder...

I'm going to look under the hood a little closer today and see if I see anything else. I noticed a couple green dots on some of the hoses after looking at those pictures again. Anything else I should be looking for?

Thanks

 

[cris_crozz]

however uncommon, it could also be brake pad dust. possible reason is that the A/C fan and/or Radiator fan sucks the brake dust into the engine bay. do u see same colored dust on your coil springs & shocks?

 

[CL9 Jon]

moisture+dust+engine heat = baked on "brown residue" everywhere. Very common

 

[cris_crozz]

I think I may just found your problem. It's the heat/sound insulation attached under the hood. it must've accumulated dirt from it's previous owner. try to slap it a few times and you would see dirt/smoke. if you can detach it and clean it, that might end your brown dust issue.

 

[Jeffreysachs]

Thanks for the responses.

But I don't think that's it. The cover isn't hiding much dirt. And the springs look perfectly clean.

Feeling less worried about the brown residue, but doesn't come off easily that is for sure. I know engines will get dirty but was still surprised it happened so quickly with the car. You might be right about the cleaning products they use being sticky afterwards.

As long as the white buildup on on some of metal is normal then I think I am OK with it.
imgur: the simple image sharer

I'm going to clean off my hood before I drive back to CT this weekend and see if those streaks at the corners of the hood and corners of the grill come back. Hopefully not.
imgur: the simple image sharer


I did pay extra attention to the car yesterday and there is a faint hissing sound when I turned off the car, sounds like its coming from the front part of the hood. Everything I read about it said it was normal and could be pressure returning through the hoses. Again no visible signs of leaks.

 

[CG1120]

Brown residue just looks like dirt as everyone else is saying. White residue is the aluminum corroding- perfectly normal. Tire residue looks like its either from tire mounting paste, mold-release agent from manufacturing plant, or just a film from tire shine.

 

[Jeffreysachs]

Brown residue just looks like dirt as everyone else is saying. White residue is the aluminum corroding- perfectly normal. Tire residue looks like its either from tire mounting paste, mold-release agent from manufacturing plant, or just a film from tire shine.

Thanks for the thorough response!

Not going to worry about that stuff anymore. My last car was old and crappy... Trying to keep this one looking and running perfect.

 

[gdub]

Another thing you can do is degrease the whole engine bay and spray it down. Then check back in a few days. But like everyone is saying, it doesn't look like anything really but dirt.