Potential brake fluid leak?
 

As I was walking to my car in the morning, I noticed that there was a bit of oil on the front passenger side wheel. I decided to wipe up the oil and go for a drive; after driving around for maybe 30 minutes I headed home and checked it again. No oil residue anywhere. My concern is that this could be brake fluid that's leaking. My car only has about 1700 miles on it, and I haven't done any modifications to the car. I want to know if this is a common problem that I could fix myself, or if this is something that I need my local dealership to take a look into. I would really appreciate if someone could give me insight into what's going on. I'll let the car sit overnight and check it again in the morning to see if there's any more oil on the wheel.

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Check the bleeders on the caliper and make sure they are tight. Remember there are two per wheel. One on the inside and one on the outside of the caliper.

Would I be able to access the bleeder inside the caliper without taking my wheel off, maybe by turning the wheel? Unfortunately I just let a buddy of mine borrow my jack and toolset and I won't be seeing them for a few more days. I checked the one that's circled in green and there doesn't seem to be any oil residue around it.

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i think its an 11mm sorry bad memory. I tighten all the time...heck a Buddy and myslf have bled the brakes without taking a wheel off while using a bleed ball.

Greetings Leroy,

Sorry to hear of the oil on your front wheel. Please let me know if you need to enlist the services of a certified GM dealer. I'd be more than happy to schedule an appointment and monitor the repair on your behalf. Feel free to send me a PM if your concerns persist.

Best regards,

William R.
Chevrolet Customer Care

If I'm reading this right, I'm assuming that I need to tighten the bleeders often? If so, would it be advisable for me to Loctite the threads to avoid this?

Thanks, I'll try check all around for where the oil could be coming from and let it sit overnight, if I find more oil on my wheel in the morning I'll shoot you a PM.

Do not locktite the bleeders. No you do not need to tighten them often, unless you are tracking the car and then you should be bleeding the car after every track day. You should be able to tighten them without taking the wheel off. Put a wrench on both and make sure they are tight.

Thanks for the heads up, it's just all strange to me because I've never had problems with the brakes in any of my cars before. Just the old pad and rotor replacement was all I ever had to deal with. I'll tighten them up as soon as I get my toolset back to see if the bleeders are the problem.

Sure thing!

William R.
Chevrolet Customer Care

Be sure you dont over-tighten the bleed valve. They are super easy to strip, and if they strip they will not seal and leak more. Just hand tighten to a point where you dont have to force it.

There are two potential oil sources. Brake fluid and Strut Oil. They should be easy to identify. Remove you front wheel. If there are traces of oil coming down from the strut, it is the strut. If the strut is dry and there are traces of fluid on or around the caliper, it is the caliper.

You can drive safely on a leaking strut if you drive conservatively. If it is brake fluid, you should not drive your 1LE. Let Chevrolet do their thing for you.

I still haven't gotten my toolset back from my buddy so I wasn't able to take the wheel off to check, but I was able to turn the wheel and stick my hand in there to feel for oil on the strut. My hand came out dry, but I guess I won't be able to know for sure until I can take the wheel off. Thanks for the info though, the possibility of it coming from the strut never came across my mind.

If the strut is dry then it is 99% certain it is brake fluid.

wish you were local i would invite you to my garage for some pmcs