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Identifying the cause of a puddle of fluid under your vehicle may save you serious troubled down the road. Fluids can be identified by their color and consistency:

Yellowish green, pastel blue, or fluorescent orange colors - indicate an overheated engine or an antifreeze leak caused by a bad hose, water pump, or leaking radiator.

Dark brown or black oily fluid - means the engine is leaking oil. The leak could be caused by a bad seal or gasket.

Reddish brown oily spot - indicates a transmission or power steering fluid leak.

A puddle of clear water - is usually no problem. It may be normal condensation from your vehicle air conditioner.

Q: How often should I change my oil?
A: Most vehicle manufactures recommend changing the oil once a year or every 7,500 miles in a gasoline engine. For diesel engines and turbocharged gasoline engines, the usual recommendation is every 3,000 miles or six months.

If you read the fine print, however, you will discover that the once a year oil change is for vehicles driven under ideal circumstances. What most of us think as "normal" driving is actually "severe service" driving. For this type of driving, the recommendation is to change the oil every 3,000 miles or 6 months.

As an engine accumulates miles, something called "blow-by" increases. This dumps more unburned fuel into the engine, which dilutes the oil. This causes the oil to break down. So if the oil isn't changed often enough, you can end up with accelerated wear and all engine problems that come with it (loss of performance and fuel economy, and increased emissions and oil consumption.)