Weird white liquid stains in engine bay and under truck

Bought my 2001 prerunner 3.4l about 3 months ago and I've seen this white liquid almost everywhere on my truck (I even found it inside the door when I took the panel off. It wipes off with a damp towel no problem.
Anyone have some ideas on what it could be?
Has something broken that needs fixing?

 

Soap residue from a car wash?

 

Your taco got #metoo ‘d

 

I thought so but I wanted to be sure something wasn't leaking or had been broken

 

It might be battery acid. It can seep out of the top and is really corrosive.

 

Looks like dried coolant

 

I would say soap. But the radiator could've exploded and done that to and maybe got in the door jambs. My cousins jeep did that and sprayed rusty antifreeze all over hers worse than that.

 

I looked up leaking batteries and this stuff doesn't look the same as that

 

so most likely soap but it could be the radiator exploded and the previous owner didn't clean it up. Anything to be worried about?

 

My cousins exploded on her jeep, I didnt pay much attention to where all the crusty stuff was when I replaced the radiator for her but it went up on the wall of her house about 5 or 6 feet. I guess it could've got in the door jam if it happened on the highway.

 

Well if the radiator exploded hopefully the PO shut the truck off right away to keep it from overheating...otherwise it should be fine.

 

Where did the truck live before you bought it? It kinda looks like it might be road salt residue. Also could just be some muddy water that someone drove through..?

 

Los Angeles. Bought it from the original owner

 

Im gonna guess its just some light mud then.. Not sure how it would end up in the doors if it originated in the engine bay

 

radiator coolant.... check for any cracks on the top of the radiator while the engine is running at operating temp, or better yet, borrow a radiator pressure tester from you local auto store. If theres a crack, coolant will slowly seep out while pressurized and drops on to the spinning fan causing it splatter over the engine bay.

 

Dried soapy water is my guess. Wash it all off see if it comes back..

 

Thats what I thought too. Here is a picture of how my radiator failed OP.

 

I'm saying coolant, too. Not inside the door, though. Inside the door is something else.

But I'd bet near anything that under the hood, that's coolant. Clean it off. It'll come back. Then you start chasing the leak.

 

To me it looks like some kinda salt/soap residue. If it's salt, maybe the previous owner went to the salt lakes some something? Or just somewhere with salt in general.

 

If this were coolant residue, you would see much higher concentrations of this near the radiator or coolant hoses where a leak would be, like Wyatt's pic above...

That doesn't really seem to be the case here. I'm betting it's just soap residue or crap from the road.

If you're concerned about it, clean it all off real good, then see if it reappears.