Help! leaking steering fluid? waiting for roadside assistance

[bb147]

Hello.

I was driving today and noticed suddenly when I was going slow like 20 km/h the passenger side front wheel sounds a little different, like something is stuck to it.

So I park on the side and notice the bottom of my car is leaking some type of clear fluid, then I saw it leaking from the axis point between the passenger side wheel and the center of the car.

A quick Google search shows it may be power steering fluid. Now I am waiting for roadside assistance.

While I'm waiting I just thought i would share my news with the community and was hoping if I could get some questions answered.

1. Is this going to be covered under warranty? Money is kind of tight right now.
2. Is this common?
3. Is it safe to drive? (Not that I'm going to now but for future reference should I pull over ASAP or drive to the nearest dealer?

That's it for now.

Thanks in advance!

[bb147]

Sorry. Posting this on a phone.. forgot to add..

its a 2010 corolla ce w/ enhanced pkg.. only about 8000+ kilometres

[bb147]

Sorry. Posting this on a phone.. forgot to add..

its a 2010 corolla ce w/ enhanced pkg.. only about 8000+ kilometres

[MiniPacou]

2010 Corolla's dont have power steering fluid, they have an electric motor. The clear fluid is most likely to be water from the air conditioner. If it's cooling liquid, red or green or orange then you got a problem...

[thewalrus2010]

Originally Posted by MiniPacou

2010 Corolla's dont have power steering fluid, they have an electric motor. The clear fluid is most likely to be water from the air conditioner. If it's cooling liquid, red or green or orange then you got a problem...

Spot on, you probably just have a rock or some other debris stuck in between your rotor and brake pad.

[Exit9]

If I remember correcctly, I believe brake fluid is clear but you would notice loss of braking capability before you noticed clear fluid running down the car.

[FlawedLegacy]

my first thought was AC condensation as well. Keep us posted!

[thewalrus2010]

Brake fluid is not clear, its got a yellow golden tint to it, if its clear and it looks like water then that's what it is, ac condenser runoff. I don't think you needed to call a tow truck.

[rolla-XRS]

Clear fluid? Are you sure it's not water condensation off your air conditioner/defroster?
Since current gen Corolla doesn't use power steering fluid (it's been replaced by and electric motor), not sure where you Googled this.

Your 60,000km warranty should cover everything except general wear parts (ie: brakes/tires).

[bb147]

Wow, I feel like an idiot.

Turns out it is just AC condensation. I asked the guy on the phone with Toyota Roadside assistance what it could be and he just said it isn't safe to drive, wait for the tow truck.. I guess they may just be a dispatcher and know nothing about servicing or cannot give that kind of advice for liability reasons.

I remember reading about the 10th Gen Corolla with electric steering too, don't know why I thought it was steering fluid :| Oh well, I guess having no sleep the night before does that to you.

Thanks for all the help guys! Next time I should make a thread BEFORE even calling roadside assistance


Just one last question which is somewhat related, I thought it would only have condensation if the AC was actually on? But the tow truck guy told me the compressor runs every so often even if I don't turn the AC on, and it has probably been doing the leaking thing since forever its just I never noticed it until I was checking out the wheel and noticed the puddle of water.

Oh, and the noise just disappeared, I had the tow truck follow me around a few blocks and it was fine with no noise, not sure what that was, tow truck guy told me it may just be something stuck and it fell out.

Anyway, again, thanks for all the help... now I should probably read Automobiles for Dummies or something lol.

[FlawedLegacy]

glad to hear it was nothing. You probably did what most do. Park it, then the water evaporates and you never notice. Once something "sounds funny" you look and see it and assume the worst. Just glad it wasn't anything (big).

We should start a "ToyotaNation Roadside Web Assistance" program!