I've been swapping in and out different LED front parking lights and everytime I do my car leaves a sticky oily clear liquid on the front passenger side floor.

I don't think it's the engine hydromount because it's too much liquid. I don't think it's engine oil because it's clear. It's either brake fluid or coolant. Water pump and thermostat changed 2,000 miles ago.

I'm thinking brake fluid is released when I turn the steering all the way lock to lock to access the parking lights through the wheel well??? Any ideas??? I don't want to take it to the dealer (they always want $1,000 to $3,000 for something).

 

Passenger side floor water leaks are usually caused by a stopped up drain from your A/C.

 

Probably washer fluid. If it were your brakes, checking the brake reservoir would tell you.

You HAVE checked the master brake reservoir, right???

How does it taste? How does it smell? That will tell you a lot.

 

Check Blinker Fluid...

 

I guess that joke never gets old for some people.

I've concluded it's brake fluid mixed with a/c condensation. It has a yellow tint and is sticky. I will keep an eye on it since it only shows up when changing the parking lights and I'm done doing that.

Thanks everyone.

 

If it's brake fluid, you need to either park it and have it towed to a shop, or drive it to the shop and leave it. DO NOT continue to drive it!!

 

I don't see any way that brake fluid mixed with A/C condensate could end up on your passenger side floor after changing your front parking light bulbs. Is this appearing on the underside of the car, or inside the car? What year and model? Is it right hand drive? I am also leaning towards ColoCoug's idea of tasting the fluid. But, without knowing what each fluid in the car tastes like, as I do, you might still be guessing. Are there any low fluids anywhere? If any one of the tanks or reservoirs are low, there's your issue.

 

I agree with you, I don't think there's any way brake fluid gets near the lights unless it's spraying out of a broken line under high pressure in a hard stop. If it were doing that, within a few days you'd have no brake fluid left - so 99% chance it's not brake fluid, as that makes no sense.

Tasting the fluids won't hurt you if you just touch them, but most of this stuff has a distinctive smell, and that's just as helpful as taste. Brake fluid always smells, and once you're smelled it you know it. Antifreeze doesn't smell as much, but you can tell it.

And of course, nothing else smells as musky as gear oil (formerly known as 90-weight.)

 

Gear oil has a known distinctive smell. And taste. Brake fluid will have a "bite" to the taste. Coolant will smell and taste "sweet", in my experience. A/C condensate should be nothing more than water, with no smell or taste, unless it has picked up something along the way. Maybe I should stop tasting so many fluids in cars? LOL. Just a taste, not drinking it in, I promise!

 

I made an appointment and took it into the dealer today for piece of mind. They checked the brakes and found nothing wrong. They said my oil pan was leaking a little (very little) (a dealer $850 fix) around the gasket. So now I know it's most likely A/C condensation with a little bit of motor oil.

Paid $69 plus tax for the oil change/car wash and spent the 1 hour 15 minutes at a real car show. My Mini dealer 3 weeks ago added Lamborghini and McLaren as official dealers. Now they are a Mini-BMW-Rolls-Royce-Lambo-McLaren dealer. What a combo??

The new JCW Mini convertible is very nice, but not $45,000 nice. They had some used Ferrari FF and 458 Speciale for sale too, but the Aventador was easily the best looking car in the whole showroom. It looks way better in person. The Ferraris look worst for some weird reason.

Thanks everyone for your help!! Glad the dealer figured it out.