Leaking from underneath

[Tex]

Hi,

I noticed a liquid under my rear seats a few months ago, ignored it, but decided to get to the bottom of it, it feels like a grease or oil , very "slippery", i think its from under the car, it seems to be coming from underneath, cleaned underneath the seats and put some masking tape to see where it comes out from.

I have attached the rear bench picture, in Blue is where this seems to be coming out, it is not overflowing, but i have no idea then how it even comes out that hole and onto the benches and seats, in purple is the result of what it looks like because of this leak, i checked the fuel tank compartment and it seems dry, and under the deadening its dry as well,

This is what it looks like on paper if i try to soak it up.

This is under the rear of the car, in blue is the areas covered in this liquid, the purple arrow is showing that behind this object there is also some, i have no clue where its coming from, i have done a test, i have cleaned the rear benches as well as inside the holes, and yesterday it seemes to leak again i have no idea if its fuel, grease or oil. The break fluid levels are godd so cant be that.

any clues?

Thanks

[iichel]

what does it smell like?

[marco_polo]

Funnily enough I had this exact thing in the back of mine. Previous owner looks to of spilt something in the back and had just been sitting there. Mine was almost like oil but harder and really hard to clean.
A detailing brush and some APC sorted mine...good as knew. Consider this if you haven’t had it since new and check your boot under the spare wheel next to the battery.


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[RUM4MO]

@marco_polo, just a spare wheel in there, no battery as its a 1.2TSI

@Tex, can you get under that car and look up above the rear beam to see if you can find where it is coming from when it is landing on that beam axle?

[Tex]

No smell, I thought it was a spill but I cleaned everything and came back, I will have a look, it seems to come from the side of the fuel tank but I will have a look again.

[wolfie]

It really does look like there has been some sort of solvent spill at some point. I think the dark oily residue you have wiped off is because it's partially melted the black bituminous sound deadening. If you've cleaned everything down did you check to see if anything had soaked into the seat backs it may be something that just continuing to weep/drain a little??

[Tex]

Only the right rear seat is covered in this liquid, but I have taken the cloth out and cleaned the sponge but it looks like the leak is still there, it is really here in Portugal, any liquid would for sure dry up, and I have driven without the rear seats for a few times so plenty time to dry up, so with regards to the rear axle , I used a pressure washer and looks like it helped a little, did a wipe down but it looks like there is still some residue on it, doesn't seem to come off early, almost like when there is some oil in the engine cover and it takes a while to get it off, I don't have any tools to jack the car up, I will have to ask a local garage to have a look for me but it will be hard as they will charge and are so busy. I will see if I can get under there but I doubt it, just thought any one else had this issue, by the way if it was possibly a fuel leak how could I tell?

[RUM4MO]

I'd think especially in high summer and in a country like Portugal, if there was any fuel leak, there would be a strong smell of petrol.

[Tex]

Thanks, guess that would make sense then,


I will have a look tomorrow and see if I can get a better look, going to see if I can get a cloth in between the metal opening and see if there is maybe a puddle of liquid hiding from me, maybe it is a spill but I doubt it.

[RUM4MO]

From my way of thinking, if there was a fuel leak from the tank/pump area, the fuel would only run out and down and not ever get inside the passenger compartment. All very strange!

[wolfie]

Just a thought, but may it have soaked into the seat foam? You've cleaned everything off but when the foam is squashed by sitting on it or placing weight on it it's squeezing out a little more residue?

I'm with RUM4MO, if it was a fuel leak there would be a strong smell of fuel in the vehicle. Have you removed all the boot carpet to see if anything is soaked into that?

[Tex]

I don't ever carry people in the back seats , but I have cleaned the sponge properly , I have removed all seats and carpeting, no trace other than where the benches are, but I will have a look today and see if I find something new.

Thanks for the help