strange oily substance under my 124 coupe

[thedoc01]

hi all.quick query for you guys ,my son in law came in the other night and said "nei your cars leaking oil",obviously shocked i ran outside for a quick inspection and true there was an oil pool near my car but not under it so i thought nothing of it,however next morn as i left for work there was another pool of the dreaded black stuff right underneath my beautiful ce.on inspection i saw which seems to be a drain hole from the boot (off side) but thats all it seems to be ,a drain hole.after pulling out out the boot lining i see a rubber pipe ,dont know what its for or where it goes as im still in nursery on these machines ,my question is this,is there any oil that has to travel down that area of the car to lubricate some kind of special space age gizmo that i never heard of. there is a black rubber pipe ther but what is it for?

 

[NW_Merc]

The one hanging under the boot is a drain from inside the boot. The black oil may be the diff 'weeping'

 

[thedoc01]

there was no oil where the diff sat just where the drain was and over the mud flap ,is this possible?

 

[Bellow]

I've known of someone believe they had an oil leak which turned out to be petrol melting/dissolving the tarmac.
How big a pool is there?

 

[thedoc01]

not so big ,it hasnt happened in the last 24 hours,thought it was a can of 3 in 1 but not.lid shut tight.cars running mint,no noises creaks so ill keep an eye out and get you guys knowledge to fix it when something goes wrong...cheers.if its just a drain hole at the back i aint so worried.

 

[Bellow]

If it does leak again, try and get some on a white piece of paper (tissue) to gauge the colour, and between your finger tips to gauge how thin/thick it is. Will be a lot easier identified then.

There are other possible fluids mind. Brake fluid being the one to worry about above all others. Have a squint at the reservoir if you have any doubts.

 

[Cabe]

Is it the tears of lesser cars?

 

[camerafodder]

What does it smell like?

 

[mattc]

Its not very common at all on the coupes but some have the SLS suspension. These pipes do corrode and the fluid in that can look pretty rank if its never been changed.