Dripping
Continuing the ramblings I wrote while on holiday in France
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It’s surely not a good sign when you notice there is a small puddle under the car and upon closer inspection you can see the occasional drip coming from the underside of the vehicle. The last thing I need is for my car to break down in a foreign country. I know that I have Mazda Roadside Assistance, which is considerably more comprehensive than mere AA cover, but my knowledge of French is restricted to ordering croissants. I’m no expert on the workings of the internal combustion engine and would be at a loss to describe what was wrong with the car in English; I have no hope in a different language.
Dabbing my finger in the liquid and sniffing revealed it wasn’t battery acid, petrol or engine oil. In fact it had the consistency of water and no discernable odour. Therefore, by a process of elimination from my extremely limited knowledge, it is either windscreen washer fluid or some kind of condensation caused by use of the air conditioning system.
This latter idea is a complete guess and I have no notion where it came from; for all I know it might be as ridiculous as assuming it to be gremlin urine. However, it has struck me before now that whenever I switch on the air-con it dehumidifies as well as cools the inside of the car, and when I switch it off it’s like I can suddenly smell a slight dampness in the air. So, my reasoning goes, the extracted moisture must be going somewhere, therefore it could be condensing in, around, or just behind the engine bay, which is where the dripping seems to be coming from.
This morning, after the engine had cooled overnight, I went out and looked under the bonnet. All the fluid indicators indicate that there are sufficient fluids, although the windscreen washer might be lower than I’d have guessed, so all I can do now is wait and see. I checked the local Yellow Pages last night and unless Mazda’s go by a completely different name in France then there is no local authorised dealership in Brittany.
Within a few days I’m either going to be calling Mazda Roadside Assistance or I’m going to relax and put the whole experience down to “one of those things…”
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UPDATE: The car is still running, nearly 2 weeks and over 1500 miles later, and still nothing has exploded yet.
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It’s surely not a good sign when you notice there is a small puddle under the car and upon closer inspection you can see the occasional drip coming from the underside of the vehicle. The last thing I need is for my car to break down in a foreign country. I know that I have Mazda Roadside Assistance, which is considerably more comprehensive than mere AA cover, but my knowledge of French is restricted to ordering croissants. I’m no expert on the workings of the internal combustion engine and would be at a loss to describe what was wrong with the car in English; I have no hope in a different language.
Dabbing my finger in the liquid and sniffing revealed it wasn’t battery acid, petrol or engine oil. In fact it had the consistency of water and no discernable odour. Therefore, by a process of elimination from my extremely limited knowledge, it is either windscreen washer fluid or some kind of condensation caused by use of the air conditioning system.
This latter idea is a complete guess and I have no notion where it came from; for all I know it might be as ridiculous as assuming it to be gremlin urine. However, it has struck me before now that whenever I switch on the air-con it dehumidifies as well as cools the inside of the car, and when I switch it off it’s like I can suddenly smell a slight dampness in the air. So, my reasoning goes, the extracted moisture must be going somewhere, therefore it could be condensing in, around, or just behind the engine bay, which is where the dripping seems to be coming from.
This morning, after the engine had cooled overnight, I went out and looked under the bonnet. All the fluid indicators indicate that there are sufficient fluids, although the windscreen washer might be lower than I’d have guessed, so all I can do now is wait and see. I checked the local Yellow Pages last night and unless Mazda’s go by a completely different name in France then there is no local authorised dealership in Brittany.
Within a few days I’m either going to be calling Mazda Roadside Assistance or I’m going to relax and put the whole experience down to “one of those things…”
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UPDATE: The car is still running, nearly 2 weeks and over 1500 miles later, and still nothing has exploded yet.
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