On occasion when I've been doing other maintenance underneath the car, I've seen what seems to be a thick oil of some sort running down the lower radiator hose, coming from the direction of the water pump... Any ideas on this? I don't have a clue, never seen this before. I have a stewart water pump...

 

Could be an oil leak from somewhere else that just happen to drip onto the water pump and run down the hose. I had that problem on my old Mercury...finally determined that the oil leak was from where the intake manifold gasket wasn't set right in the fromt, but the entire underside of the front end (suspension, brakes, bumper, etc) was totally greased up from all the flying oil.

 

I have the same oil on my 85 TA. I have thick oil on the lower radiator hose, but it never leaves a drop on the driveway, and its not like the underside of the car is covered in oil, its not. I wouldnt be too worried about it untill its leaving spots on the driveway, or smoking going down the road.

85 TA, New 305, TPI, new 700R4, Shift kit

 

If it is thick, it could be oil and dirt, or could it be ball joint grease? Just wondering because of the thickness.I would clean it off and see if it comes back. The other thing to look at is the timing chain cover. I think that could put oil on the hose, but I am not sure.

 

I've checked all those things before and never found anything out of the ordinary... guess I'll have to look a little harder... Thanks for the replies...