I have a 2001 Ford F-150 Supercrew v8 5.4L. I am having the hardest time finding out why I have a leak somewhere around my passenger side rear tire. I have checked my brake fluid and my diff. fluid and they seem to be good. I see some kind of black fluid dripping off the metal rotor protector (i dont know the specific name) and onto the inside of my rim... It is somewhat of a steady slow leak because every time I park and look at the inside of my rim there is maybe 1-5 drips. It does have a little bit of a burning smell after I park.

The other day I pulled into a parking lot and I heard somewhat of a pop or a clunk and I looked under neath my truck after I parked and I noticed some kind of fluid kind sprayed all over the inside my tire. Ever since then I hear a clunk when I am reversing and braking and almost to a complete stop every now and then. Not every time does that happen

I really hope that makes sense. This leak has been goin for a little while and I really need to fix it. Any help and info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Dan

 

Sounds like an axle seal and possible bearing failure, best get it to a mechanic before you cause more damage.

 

if its not the axle seals, it would be one of the lines that connect into the caliper, the bolt that the line connects to that you scrw into the caliper, the seal in it might be gone or it could be the actual unit itselfs thats messed up

 

Did you ever get this figured out? I'm having the same problem without the clunking noise. Just a steady leak and i replaced the calipers and brakes yesterday and it's still leaking.

 

If it's black more than likely an axle seal leaking. You Wil actually be able to smell it near that side after a hard or long drive.. the smell is very identifiable.

 

 

That's brake fluid... Check your master cylinder reservoir to see if it's low.. I wouldn't drive it with a leak that bad. Check the bleeder screw on the back of the caliper and your brake lines for cracks.. that can be very dangerous. You might end up having to replace the caliper. If the piston busted then that's the clunk you are hearing. You rear brake is not fully engaging. The smell is the brake fluid burning off from the brake pad itself...

 

Hmm I'm not the one hearing the clunk that was the original poster. But as far as the caliper goes a friend of mine just replaced this caliper and the other rear caliper yesterday. I replaced them because it had been leaking like this most of the winter and the caliper seized a couple days ago. So with just replacing them yesterday and now it's doing it again, I'm a little foiled on what's going in here. I was worried that it's an axle seal leak but it looked like brake fluid to me too. What color is diff fluid for our fords?

 

That is definitely an axle seal leak, put some of the fluid between the index finger and thumb, is it light and slippery or sticky and slippery.

Sticky = gear oil
Light = brake fluid

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Definitely an axle seal. Ugh