Fluid on tie rod boot

[GA2Dr]

I was crawling around under the Bronco tonight and noticed on the tie rod boot on driver's side there was a little bit of fluid where the boot flares (ridges?) go from large to small, which can be seen as the shiny area in the picture. I am hoping this might be from a recent front diff fluid change (the filler port is not far from there) I did, but would like a sanity check. I am thinking this was just me dripping a little bit of gear oil on to the boot and not noticing.

I inspected the boot and did not see any tears and I'm thinking there shouldn't be fluid in that area anyway? I looked at the shock above and everything else near by (including the steering rack) and did not see any signs of a leak or fluid dripping.

Around 22k miles, no serious offroading (yet). Factory non-SAS steering rack, tie rods, etc. Eibach pro truck coilovers with UCAs.

Thoughts? TIA

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[Ducati1098]

Wipe your finger on it and smell it. Gear fluid is very easy to recognize by smell.

 

[GA2Dr]

Wipe your finger on it and smell it. Gear fluid is very easy to recognize by smell.

Good point. I did try to smell it but there was not much there. I will check back tomorrow and see if I can get a read on the smell. I also need to hit it with some brake clean to see if it reappears.

 

[Valhalla]

I edited this as my mind jumped to CV boot even though I saw a steering boot.

 

[Valhalla]

Watch spraying brake cleaner on rubber parts.

 

[GA2Dr]

Watch spraying brake cleaner on rubber parts.

Good old soap and water instead?

 

[Valhalla]

simple green

 

[Valhalla]

If it is stubborn use some light degreaser, after clean rinse with water. just know if there is a hole you are introducing something that will cause the part to not be properly lubed into the mix.

 

[HighVelocity]

A Jeep peed on it.

Completely normal.

 

[Brian_B]

It looks fresh, so you are probably right, a spill from your FDU change.

About 2 months ago I went off the deep end after finding some oil residue on my skid plate directly under the FDU. I initially jumped the shark and thought "Oh god my pinion is leaking and it's gonna blow up". But didn't see anything on the FDU. Checked fluid in there, was ok... took a deep breath, cleaned it up (with Simple Green!), and it didn't come back.

Then, this weekend, when changing my oil - I was making the typical mess with my oil filter (stupid 2.3) and it dawned on me while cleaning that up --- this is where that oil came from on my skid plate.

Not saying in your case it's the oil filter (although that isn't too far out either, if you have the 2.3) but it's probably something benign, and you clean it up and see if it stays away. Then get all worried about it.

 

[Fordified1]

Looks like blinker fluid.

sorry, it’s late, and I’m a smartass. And I resisted a joke about sticking fingers in wet places and sniffing….

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