I've had my 97 960 wagon for about three weeks now. I'm still learning its quirks and finding problems here and there. I bought it as a second car and don't drive it much. But I did drive it to work yesterday after lunch and then on a 30-mile round trip out of town. As far as I could tell, everything was working fine.

I work at a small company with a small parking lot and I usually park in about the same spot. When I got to work this morning, I saw a large (maybe 2' x 3') puddle in roughly the spot where the 960 was parked. I did the stick-a-finger-in-it-and-sniff test and determined it to be coolant. It had to be that or oil because there isn't enough of any other fluid (besides gas) to make a puddle that large. It definitely wasn't oil or gas. So coolant is the only other possibility.

I went home at lunch today and checked the coolant level on the 960 and it is right at the horizontal seam on the expansion tank. There is no radiator cap, so that's the only way I have to measure the level. Is it possible for there to be a major coolant loss, but still show a normal level in the expansion tank? I checked all the hose fittings and they were dry and I saw no evidence of any leaks.

I was the last to leave work yesterday, so the only other possibility (although unlikely) is that someone parked a vehicle there after I left, spilled a bunch of coolant, then moved the vehicle. I suppose that could have happened, but I just want to be sure I'm not overlooking something.