Should I be concerned about this potential leak?

[Orchid87]

Long story short it's a 1992 190e 1.8 Automatic with 65,000 miles on it. Car has been garaged and looked after it's whole life so is in pretty good nick underneath. I've owned since June this year and drive it on weekends, I always look at the garage floor when I take it out and it's bone dry.

I had to drive it during the week last week as I had Jury duty and on one of the days it was heavy rain so yesterday I had a quick look underneath to make sure all was well and I noticed some kind of liquid smeared around the front of the transmission and where it connects to the engine.

I rubbed a paper towel on it and it was almost like dried shiny mud, it was certainly dark brown on the paper towel so i'm assuming is oil.

I've attached a few pictures from a couple of videos I took of the area from each side of the car for review.

Anyone have any experience? Is it something potentially serious or just some oil weeping from somewhere that has collected in that area?

 

[Wighty]

Maybe clean it all up , see what happens in a week ?

 

[Orchid87]

Maybe clean it all up , see what happens in a week ?

It's a bit tricky to reach and I don't have a ramp so was intending on cleaning as best I can and leaving it sitting for a week. It's quite viscous though which leads me to think it's just weeping from somewhere so may not show again for a while.

 

[EmilysDad]

My guess would be engine's rear crank shaft oil seal. A 30 yr seal will have hardened somewhat. The seal will be a few quid but fitting will be a couple of hundred. Depends on whether you can live with it ...

 

[mioba]

Can you get a jet wash lance in there to clean it off. As you dont drive much check it after a week. But most oils seep more obviously when warm.

 

[Jim2]

As Emilys Dad says.... and if it was a bad leak, regularly checking the oil level would show it up, So more that likely its slow insidious weeping kind. Only way to confirm exactly what it is will be by thorough cleaning of the area, and then checking it again after say 1 or 200 miles . Needs to be looked at anyway.

 

[joderest]

to me, that looks like an accumulation of oil over a long period, hence why its so dirty and muddy.
suggestions above are quite correct, you need to clean it all off, and see how quickly it reappears. If you have not got a jet washer, then find a local garage with one and give it a good blast off.