HELP--FD oil change--is this normal?

[bobbybob]

After dropping the FD down, I can feel & see a small amount of a golden yellow oil just inside the swing arm--very small puddle. There is a little "dam" at the end of the swingarm that keeps it from running back into the boot area, and it doesn't appear to have been running over the "dam" and leaking into the boot. Unless it is *very* gradual. It is golden yellow, same color as the BMW brand transmission oil that I will also be changing. What does this mean??

[johnlt]

Bob, you might have a small transmission output shaft seal leak but can't really tell. Normally the FD oil is NOT yellow. Maybe a few others will weigh in on this.

john

[bobbybob]

Its def. not from the FD--it's oil was bright red like ATF. The only way this could get here is coming down the drive shaft.

[Don_Eilenberger]

Hmmmm.... "golden yellow" - sure there aren't any male cats in your neighborhood?

 

Just thinkin' outside the box.. guess you could try tasting it to see if it's really oil.

[Mister Tee]

If it is oil, it wouldn't be golden yellow if it leaked from a transmission or final drive, it would be dark or black. It is most likely oil spilled during assembly or maintenance.

[bobbybob]

Update: just changed the trans. oil. The old stuff is somewhat darker because of the sediment in it but if it were new it would be the same as what I see in the swingarm. I'm gonna assume the clear stuff in the swingarm was left there during assembly. Thanks everyone for the comments.

[Jim VonBaden]

The oil can be yellow if it were changed once.

 

One way to tell where it is coming from is to look up the swingarm and see if it is dry. If there is a disturbance in the dust trail, it is trans, if not, likely FD.

 

Jim