Oil drops on wheels, brake disk and tires (Pic & Vid)

[Afi]

Hello everyone, how are you?
This morning, I realized that there was a couple of oil drops on my wheel, brake disk and tires for both wheels on the driver side. It was particularly noticeable on the front tire since the cement was humid on both sides of the tire (inside and outside). I started the car but couldn't see any fluid dripping. Hopefully, it is related to a brake line and not something worse. What do you think?

After further investigation, it seems as if the tension rod bushing is leaking (driver side). I couldn't find any leak around the caliper, though it is definitely brake fluid that was on the outside of the wheel.


I also took a video of the whole sector (you clearly see the bushing leak at the end of the video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... lq6NsI34FI


While we are on maintenance issues, lately the car can't keep a straight line and has a tendency to steer to the right. Hopefully, it is just an alignment issue. How much should I expect to pay for that?

Thanks!

[t.mcginley.jr]

Your stock tension rods have silicone-filled bushings that wear out after a while and eventually rupture/leak. That's why you see all the wet-looking stuff on the tension rod. This is also why your steering is pulling to the right because there's now slack where the deteriorating bushings is.

You have a few options:

1) get new tension rod bushings to replace yours (fairly cheap, but a PITA to get the old ones out and press in the new ones)

2) buy a set of stock tension rods with Energy Suspension bushings installed (more expensive, but a great fix with bushings that will never have to be changed)
http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=1165

3) buy a set of adjustable pillowball tension rods. these get rid of the rubber bushing altogether and instead use a pillowball mount and have an adjustable tension rod unlike the stock ones that can't be adjusted. If you aren't lowering the car or drifting/racing/autocross there's no real benefit to the adjustability except for helping out when you get an alignment. Plus these are about as expensive, or cheaper, then Option 2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEGAN-FRONT-PIL ... 72&vxp=mtr

[t.mcginley.jr]

And as far as leaks I didn't really see anything in that video that looked like it was leaking, i.e. brake fluid or other. But you said it was wet around the wheels?

[Afi]

It was. I saw some drops on the outside of the wheel on the rim and the tire. The fluid had the same consistency as brake fluid, maple syrup like.

[t.mcginley.jr]

It was. I saw some drops on the outside of the wheel on the rim and the tire. The fluid had the same consistency as brake fluid, maple syrup like.

Ahhhhh OK on the outside of the wheel/tire is a big hint, plus not seeing any obvious leaks on the back side around the lines. Your brake calipers need to be rebuild with new seals. The front ones, for instance, have 4 pistons each and with rubber seals around each piston. When they get old, they don't seal as well and let some fluid leak past. Then when you're driving it sprays it around the outside of the rims kinda like this:

[Afi]

It was. I saw some drops on the outside of the wheel on the rim and the tire. The fluid had the same consistency as brake fluid, maple syrup like.

Ahhhhh OK on the outside of the wheel/tire is a big hint, plus not seeing any obvious leaks on the back side around the lines. Your brake calipers need to be rebuild with new seals. The front ones, for instance, have 4 pistons each and with rubber seals around each piston. When they get old, they don't seal as well and let some fluid leak past. Then when you're driving it sprays it around the outside of the rims kinda like this

Thanks! Even the Nissan writing on the caliper has now yellow stains due to the fluid.
Speaking of seals, shall I add that the seals around the Brake Master Cylinder are pretty wet (though the part was changed back in 2008). I'm surprised since the brake master cynlinder was changed back in 2008 by the previous owner (I have the receipt) though I just realized that it was not changed by the OEM part but by the Centric brand (1 inch) which is technically not the proper bore size for a 1990 model. It should have been replaced with a 1 1/16". Here is what I have at the moment.
http://www.conceptzperformance.com/Cart ... 4.57.45.67

Here is a video of the seals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNtqpW2u ... e=youtu.be

[t.mcginley.jr]

The fact that the MC isn't OEM isn't a big deal since Centric is a pretty good brand, but that is definitely the wrong size bore for your 1990. I'm not sure if this would cause it to leak or not though. When you say the seals around the MC are wet, which ones are you talking about?

[Afi]

The fact that the MC isn't OEM isn't a big deal since Centric is a pretty good brand, but that is definitely the wrong size bore for your 1990. I'm not sure if this would cause it to leak or not though. When you say the seals around the MC are wet, which ones are you talking about?

The ones seen in the video (right at the beginning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNtqpW2uWks