Oil Leak?????

[Jarhead96]

The other day I noticed a small ammount of oil dripping down the inside of the drivers side front fender. I cant see a leak of any kind in the engine but it left a small puddle on the street and seems to be comming from the top of the fender by the coil spring. It dosent seem to a regular leak. Any ideas??

[hannaco]

A couple of suggestions. If you have an automatic transmission, it might be transmission fluid. It might be fluid out of your front strut.
What color is it? Any smell to the fluid?
When you say inside of the drivers side front fender, do you mean where the wheel is? Or, in the engine bay?

[Jarhead96]

It seems to be where the wheel is. I opened the hood but could not see anything in the engine bay. It looked and smelled like engine oil, and the car is a manual trans. Any ideas??

[hannaco]

There just isn't much over there in the way of oil lines. If you still have the orignal shocks, it could be oil out of the front strut.
Oil once it has been run through the motor, is very black. Is this oil black or clear?

[Jarhead96]

The oil was black.
I decided to remove the snow box yesterday which gave me the opportunity to remove the fender liner. For the life of me I cant figure out where the oil came from!!! The shock had no oil on it at all either. I cant remember running over anything that may have splashed oil under the fender but I must have because I cant figure out any other explanation.

[hannaco]

Well, lets try something else. You should not be using much if any oil between changes. When you check your oil, is the level dropping? Leaking enough oil to make puddles, should be noticed on the dip stick.
The only other things that it might be is grease that has leaked out of the wheel bearings or the CV boot.

[Jarhead96]

Unfortunatly I changed the oil on the same day that I pulled the fender liner and forgot to check the dipstick before I drained the oil. I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens.
Thanks for all the help!!