Author Topic: Oil deposit - reason?  (Read 3913 times)

guest7009

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Oil deposit - reason?
« on: July 10, 2017, 02:42:26 PM »
My first posting -- I wish it was a more positive item.
I am in the UK and have a Jazz HX-T, 2012YM. It has done 53000 miles. I am the second owner. It has been serviced mostly by Honda dealers.
After I bought it I noticed a lot of dried mud sticking inside all four wheel arches. I suspect it has been used a lot on country roads with a lot of mud present. I scraped off the mud with wood sticks and brushes, and sprayed low-pressure water to wash off. When cleaning the left rear arch I noticed an oil deposit on the left side and underneath the sheet-steel housing for the IMA battery pack. That is about 300mm inboard of the rear wheel. Not just a small patch. Underneath the housing there is lot of grey oil -- presumably oil mixed with mud.
There is no sign of a brake fluid leak. There is no sign of a shock absorber leak. 
I am guessing the oil has come from the engine or CVT mechanism and run down the underneath. There are no oil drips on the garage floor -- over a period of a week. I suppose the oil could have been there for years. I am about to clean it off and look for signs of where it came from.
Any suggestions? What should I look for? Why would there be oil on the outside of the battery housing?

Jocko

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Re: Oil deposit - reason?
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2017, 03:48:04 PM »
Welcome. I think, understandably, that you are overly concerned. After 50 years of car ownership I have had many cars that leaked oil,some like the Torrey Canyon, and I have never had engine/transmission oil migrate to the rear of the car. I'd clean it off and keep a check on things, but it could have come from anywhere other than the car itself. Perhaps others will have better theories.

JohnAlways

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Re: Oil deposit - reason?
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2017, 04:37:13 PM »
Maybe some oil change oil got spilt in the boot on the way to the recycling centre.
 

amghosted

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Re: Oil deposit - reason?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2017, 10:34:19 AM »
I'm unsure about the oil leak, but if I see anything similar I'll let you know. However I have just checked the rear wheel arches and have to agree they are full of mud!
I'm going to use an old wooden clothes peg to scrap them out as hopefully this won't damage the paint work within the arch.

Gary

Jocko

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Re: Oil deposit - reason?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2017, 12:53:43 PM »
Personally I would just leave the mud. Take it out, with your fingers, round the arch lip and leave the rest. It will wash off eventually and meanwhile consider it a bit of protection against stone chips and the like.

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