Oil coming from wheel center cap

NICHOLASMAR

MEMBER
1998 HONDA PRELUDE
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
112,000 MILES

I have a 1998 Honda Prelude and I noticed some oil/grease on my front passenger wheel that is coming from the center cap. I took the cap off and sure enough there is some oil in there around the axle nut. I not exactly sure what's going on but if I had to guess I would say that the oil is from the wheel bearing, hub or knuckle. First, what does it mean when there is oil coming out around the axle nut and center cap? Second, I just had my lower ball joints replaced as part of a recall, could this leaking oil be due to something the mechanic did wrong?(I'm pretty sure you have to take off the hub and knuckle to replace the ball joint)

2 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Take it back and have the wheel bearing checked, the inner CV checked and that there is no brake fluid loss, this is the only source of fluid around the wheel hub.

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Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 AT 6:39 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Yes, you should get back to the mechanic who did the job.

If the job was done recently, excessive grease could have been applied and the grease has since melted and got splashed all over. Bearing grease would not get pass the central bolt as it is a rather tight seal when correctly tightened.

It is possible to replace the ball joint without taking the knuckle off the vehicle but the axle shaft and central bolt definitely has to be removed. The hub need not be disassembled from the knuckle.