im trying to figure out what's leaking. The inside of my front driver wheel is covered in grease and dirt. it doesnt look like CV grease and ive already checked the brake caliper and that was dry on the inside, as well as brake fluid level looking good.
any other ideas? could this be steering fluid? i notice that im low on that.
Inside the wheel itself or the wheel well?
Inside the rim would mean either brake fluid or wheel bearing (cv) grease. How's it feel and smell? Is it really slippery? Or is it sort of wet but not slippery? The latter's brake fluid and might also have a slightly mint-like smell to it (many brake fluids add this to make it easier to tell what's been dripping...)
Steering fluid wouldn't generally work it's way into the wheel but might be in the well area. Feel what's dripped from the steering parts. If the stuff in the 'wheel' smells/feels the same then there you are.
-Bill Kearney
"dave" wrote
We've seen something similar to what you describe twice here. Once on an '84 Dodge Caravan and again on a Ford Probe (I don't recall what year). In both cases it was a brake fluid leak from the brake line itself, nowhere near the caliper. They only leaked (as you might imagine) when the brakes were actually applied. The fluid sprayed onto the inside of the wheel (on the Caravan) and onto the tire (on the Probe) and then got spread around the rest of the wheel well from there.
And, since it had road crud, dust and so forth in it, and had partially dried, it looked like motor oil. We found them by having someone step on the brakes while someone else (with safety glasses, please) watched for the leak.
We also had a similar instance with an '84 Scirocco, but we never did conclusively track down what caused that one. The car had sat for some time and after putting it back on the road the drivers side wheel and wheel well was as you describe and the brake fluid reservoir nearly empty. We filled the reservoir, bled the brakes and the problem did not recur.
May not be your situation, of course, but it sounds very similar.
- Bill
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.