Oily rear suspension on one side - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JHZR2 · #1 09-20-2002, 01:57 PM

Hi,

I decided the other morning that I needed to change my diff oil, as the diff was looking a bit oily by the drain plug (Dont know why, but thats a diffrent story).
When I was under there, I noticed that the lowest part of the suspension on my drivers side rear wheel (heavy looking metal piece, bottom rest for the springs, etc.) had a coat of oil that looked like it went from the diff all the way down to the brake disc. I do not know why this is. I had the opposite side boot rip, and replaced the entire passenger side half, but that was the other side. And, the oil coating was there before the axle cv boot went.

Does anyone have an idea why this would be? It is just oily, but runs fine. Id like to fix whateer it may be. BTW, the oil is black, kind of like motor oil. So, I dont know that it would even be diff or CV boot related. But its quite odd to have spewed motor oil over there, especially when the rest of the car is cleambeck there.

Any info on where to start looking would be appreciated.
Thanks

JMH

lrg · #2 09-20-2002, 02:21 PM

Check for a slight fuel leak. I had a similar situation that turned out to be a leak from a bad hose at the top of the tank that allowed a small amount of fuel to drip off the edge of the tank and coat unrelated parts. It got dirty so fast it looked like leaking oil and I didn't notice the tank was wet until I really got in there with a light. Also, since it was leaking at the top of the tank it only happened when I REALLY filled it up so the volume of the leak was not very much. I finally figured it out when I was checking something else out under there after filling up and got a strong whiff of fuel smell. Not sure this is your problem but it has to be dif, CV joint, brake fluid or fuel so just try to eliminate them one by one.