My car is sick. I pulled her out today for the first time as I had to take it in for an emissions test. I passed and everything ran well until I got home. I let the car run in the driveway and when I came out I noticed it was leaking some clear fluid from the rear. What a sad sight.

I then went to turn the car off and noticed as I was turning it off it said something like abs failure/traction??? When I turned the car back on I couldn't get the error to comeback. We had plans so I just parked it in the garage. I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow any ideas of what I'm looking for. Any direction would be greatly appreciated...

 

Did you feel or sniff the fluid? If so, was it oily feeling, or did it have a smell? It's not unusual for water to drip off of the car after driving it with the air conditioner running. Moisture condenses on the A/C coil and then drips off, just like water dripping off of a glass of ice water.

The ABS/traction control error just sounds like the normal ABS problems that are common with these cars. It's usually one of three things: dirty wheel speed sensors, a bad connection in a connector, or a broken solder connection in the ABS control module. All are easily fixable, although the control module fix can be time consuming. The fact that the error went away makes me believe it is one of those three things. Usually restarting the car will clear that error.

Go out to the garage and see if the dripping fluid stained the floor or if it just evaporated. I bet it evaporated and you can't even tell where it was. If so, there are other threads we can direct you to which shows you how to fix the traction control error if it comes back. And don't worry, you car will still stop just fine. It's completely drivable with that error. The worst case scenario would be that if you needed to slam on the brakes the wheels would lock up and you'd leave skid marks on the pavement, just like in the old days.

By the way, anti-lock brakes didn't become mandatory in the US until 2010. So if Jaguar wanted to sell your 1999 XK8 without anti-lock brakes it would have been perfectly legal for them to do so. When that ABS warning comes on it just means that your brake system is functioning as if it didn't have anti-lock brakes.

 

By the way (again) ABS wasn't standard on small economy cars until very recently. For example, the 2008 Toyota Corolla didn't have ABS. It sounds like you were worried that the brakes had failed on the car because you saw the ABS/Traction Control warning. If that's the only warning then they should be working fine, you just don't have the anti-lock feature which is not necessary. HOWEVER, if your brake warning light is on, that's a different story. The brake warning light is red and it would cause the red warning light on the dash to illuminate (not the yellow one). If the brake warning light is on, your car isn't safe to drive.

 

Reverend Sam thanks for the feedback. I haven't had a chance to look over the car yet. I'm now having problems with my daily driven car (2005 PT Cruiser Convertible/Turbo).

I did feel the fluid and it was oily and clear. It did leave a stain on my driveway. I'm not sure if this helps determine what the fluid maybe? I'm going to try and take a look at it tomorrow, if not the weekend maybe my best bet.

My cars aren't happy right now even though I try to take very good care of them...

 

Oily and clear could be brake fluid or transmission fluid (the factory transmission fluid in an XK8 is clear). However, since your car is a 1999, I doubt it's the transmission fluid because it would probably be darker after all of these years, not clear. Unless, of course, it was changed recently.

Check the level of fluid in the brake reservoir. Is it low? It could be power steering fluid, too, but that's unlikely from the rear end of the car.

Oh yeah... it could be hydraulic fluid from the convertible top. Did you cycle the top? Check the fluid level in the reservoir. It's on the right side of the trunk behind that flexible stuff above the CD changer.

It could be differential fluid, too. That would be directly under the center of the rear axle.

Give us a little more info. What side of the car was it on, or was it centered? How far back was it? Was it in front of the rear axle or behind it?

 

Well I took a look at the car today. The brake and power steering fluid look ok. I lowered and closed the top a few times and everything worked well. I forgot to check the fluids in the trunk which I will do tomorrow. Thanks again Reverend Sam!!!!

To be a little more clear the leaking seemed to come from the rear section of the car. It looks to be by drivers side rear tire area and toward the middle of the trunk. I took some pictures the next day. I hope this helps. In one photo it looks the area is still wet. In the other picture I believe it was leaking upper middle.

Anymore insight would be greatly appreciated....

 

Hmmm... that's almost directly below your gas tank, but I guess you would have noticed if it smelled like gas... right?

That's also below your differential, so it could be differential fluid. The differential is supposed to be sealed for life, but it is possible to check the fluid and top it up. Another member will have to tell you how as I've never done it. I think there's a plug near the top of the differential. It's supposed to be filled until fluid starts draining out of the plug.

 

Hello, you seem to know a lot about this model.

I have an 1999 XK8 convertible. Took it for servicing the AC Condenser (which was broken and had to change)... after driving it started dripping a little bit of oil, but today I was driving it a noticed oil was dripping continuously from the bottom middle of the engine..
do you have any idea what it might be?

 

You really need to get the car on a lift and see where the oil is coming from...there are many possible sources. Guessing is not going to help.

 

Fluid dripping continuously from the engine area could be engine oil, coolant or brake fluid. Loss of any of these is serious and you need to determine which it is and exactly where it's coming from before driving the vehicle.

Graham

 

Hello, thank you for the replies.
My mechanic came over to have a look at it... he said it is a plastic cover / membrane that separates engine oil from transmission fluid when it gets around the crank...

They said it s necessary to dismount muffler and transmission in order to fix it... hopefully will take 2 work days...

Any of you has experienced something similar before?