Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-29-2022, 07:47 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2022
Posts: 6
Question What is this fluid? Pics attached...

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. What is this fluid? It's really thick, it's almost solid and rubbery. I can poke my finger in and it feels more like silly putty than anything else.
While it's possible I just missed it before, I feel like this issue came up after we had to be towed (loaded onto flatbed).

The last picture, 5, is of the oil drain. I touched it and a drop of black liquidy oil coated my finger, but that has very different characteristics of the fluid dripping down.

Thanks for the help!

Specs:
2001 Bluebird 30ft
5.9 Cummins 24v
AT545
Attached Thumbnails
1.jpg   2.jpg   3.jpg   4.jpg   5.jpg  


SkoolFools is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2022, 10:29 PM   #2
Bus Nut
 
Truthseeker4449's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 578
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: MVP ER
Engine: CAT 3126
So the fluid on the bottom of the oil pan is definitely engine oil, it's not uncommon to see oil leaks on old diesels. Actually probably more rare to see one that doesn't leak somewhere.

The thick stuff on the other hand, my first thought is grease. I've seen it come out of joints that have been just been greased like that, however that's quite a bit tho and it's usually obvious cus you just greased it. I also can't think of any grease points directly above the axle on the passenger side.

Perhaps someone greased the spring leaves to cut down on noise or something?

There's a tiny chance the bus has an auto lubricator and a line to a the spring pivot has burst. I've only seen those on fire trucks tho, never heard of them being common anywhere else outside of heavy equipment. If one is present there will be a bunch of little lines going to grease fittings on the suspension and sometimes the steering.

Can you provide any further details on the leak? I.E. when is it appearing, does it get worse if the bus idles? More pictures of the engine bay especially on the passenger side
Truthseeker4449 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2022, 08:49 PM   #3
New Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2022
Posts: 6
Thank you for the reply! Here's a pic of the drip pan under the bus as well as passenger side engine bay, which looked absent of this fluid to me.

I drove the bus for the first time in a couple of months yesterday, and saw no marked change in the level of fluid coming off the bus.

This latest drip pan photo is probably indicative of the amount that's leaked out over the last month or more, whereas the first photo I posted (where the fluid was dripping in more of "lines" shape) was from a few months ago, and much more was coming out then. (Like the amount in the original post's first photo dripping every time we parked).
Attached Thumbnails
IMG_1689.jpeg   IMG_1703.jpeg  
SkoolFools is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2022, 06:41 PM   #4
New Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2022
Posts: 6
Anyone?
SkoolFools is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cummins, fluid, mystery, oil

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:14 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.