Fluid Leak 3 weeks after Oil Change

[karlc2010]

I change my own oil, and I did my last change 3 weeks ago, the car currently has 85,000 miles. The car had been parked in the garage the last 2 days, and I look underneath the engine bay and I see a small "puddle" of fluid. I got the car up on Ramps to take a better look, and I see the bottom of the oil pan looks darker, and directly rear of the pan it looks like fluid has also been getting on this area. The oil filter looked okay from the brief moment I looked at it, it didn't look like fluid was dripping from here, but I didn't take the splash guard off to look in more detail (was getting dark.)

I rubbed my hand on the pan and it had a very light coat of dark fluid, so I wiped it all down, and ensured everything was snug. My initial review of dark fluid leak possibilities are from the Oil Cooler gasket, or a gasket in the Power Steering vicinity. I was planning on jacking the car up and removing the Front Passenger wheel this afternoon to take a better look at the Oil Cooler from the side.

I'm not sure if the fluid is Oil, that was my initial reaction from the color. Any other thoughts on where to look to help determine the cause?

2010 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
85,000 miles


-Karl

[Throckmorton]

Thanks for posting a question, and then letting us know how your problem was corrected. Your solution has helped us all.