Did I drive through grease or do I have an A/C problem?
 

I just finished washing my 1987 911 and I noticed that the driver's side rocker panel behind the front wheel was covered with grease. At first I thought I drove through a blob of grease on the road, but when I looked up under the wheel well and saw that the A/C dryer was covered, I started to wonder if it's an A/C oil leak or something else. It may have just been thrown up there by the wheel.

I had the A/C on last week, but mostly for the fan.

Any suggestions?

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Wheels001.jpg

Clean everything well with an oil cutting, biodegradable product, dry it thoroughly, and go for a drive with the AC on. Or, clean it up and simply run the AC and see if you see oil seepage while the system is on.

if you didn't you do......

The oil seems to be from the AC system. An AC charge contains the refrigerant and a small amount of oil to lubricate the moving compressor parts. Maybe some shop did a sloppy job before and didn't clean up. Else you have a leak.

Normally, with a leak the refrigerant goes first and the compressor won't even come on because the system pressure is too low. However, a conclusive test is to clean the area and then watch it. You might want to buy a dye or have a shop charge the system with a dye to spot tiny leaks. The dye is contains UV-active components and will glow when illuminated with an alternate ligth source. (UV lamp).

Cheers,
Ingo

It looked to be some kind of blue grease. If it's coming from the A/C system, I may just remove it all and be done with it.

Unfortunately, hand surgery this morning is going to delay any more work for a while.

In the mean time, any other info is appreciated.

Does the AC get cold now? See any bubbles in the sight glass? With it running you might can see any leak that splattered that much oil.

It never really got super cold to begin with.