Oily "gunk" inside of front wheels..what's it from?

[chuck121566]

I have an '88 coupe that I am having a ton of fun with. I was doing a little cleaning the other day and noticed there is a black, oily film covering the inside of both front rims. I have two suspicions: 1. Could the calipers be leaking? Other than the oily film, I have no other reason to suspect this as the fluid level remains constant and there is not a spongy feel to the pedal. 2. Could the shocks be leaking? There is a considerable amount of oily film surrounding the lower portion of both shocks. I'm no expert, but this to me seems to be the logical culprit. This car has 34,000 miles on it and I suspect that these are the original circa 1988 Bilstiens. I'm open to any advice or suggestions...THANKS!!

 

[Hrtbeat1]

It is oily or more like grease? Check the lower ball joints and the boots. The boots may have a small rip or tear or just be dry rotted a bit and not holding the grease in. That would be my guess. Could be the uppers but the lowers are more typical to drip a bit of grease on the wheel. If the uppers drip any it will normally fall and land on something else.



G

 

[chuck121566]

It is oily or more like grease? Check the lower ball joints and the boots. The boots may have a small rip or tear or just be dry rotted a bit and not holding the grease in. That would be my guess. Could be the uppers but the lowers are more typical to drip a bit of grease on the wheel. If the uppers drip any it will normally fall and land on something else.



G

It is more of a grease...I never suspected the ball joints could be leaking out grease! Thanks for the tip...

:cool

 

[pgtr]

Or it may have just been overgreased? Check around the zerks top and bottom... Quick change oil places are notorious for this and the excess goops out past the boots and ultimately ends up slung on the front wheels.