I was driving home from work today, and I looked in the mirror and I saw some dark smoke from my car. I pull over and its coming from the front of the motor. There is a thick smelling black smoke from the bottom of the header. The crossmember(not sure if this is what it is) directly below the header has a clear greenish fluid covering it, and the bottom of the oil pan.

The fluid smells and looks like it could be brake fluid, but I can't see anything that it could be coming from. The clutch slave is dry, and all my fluids are at normal levels.

Could this be from the AC? I noticed a hiss from the AC compressor 30 min after I shut the car down. I didn't think that 134a would smoke when burned or what it looked like in liquid form. If this is the case what do you guys think the problem could be? My guess would be the compressor.

Anyways thoughts welcomed

 

Check your lower radiator hose. Take a look at the ps hoses going to the ps cooler also.

 

green would typically be radiator fluid right?

 

typically yes, but I should have mentioned its not coolant. I know what that smells like, and this is sorta oily like brake fluid, but I'm sure its referigerant. I opened one of the caps for the refill nipples on the AC lines, and it smells the same.

So if my compressor crapped out, I need to have someone flush the system, and then put a new compressor on?

 

Does your a/c work?

Did you check your power steering fluid?

If it's coming from the a/c compressor, that's probably the a/c lubricant. Chances are that if you are losing the a/c oil then your system has already emptied itself... You don't want to evacuate and charge the system until a good compressor (or whatever failed) is put back on.