Oil in passenger footwell??? What is this?

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JohnGalt69

Active member
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
37
I changed my cabin air filter yesterday, and I noticed a oily substance right next to the cabin air filter housing.

See the picture below. The picture is taken up under the dash on the passenger side. The cabin air filter housing the gaping rectangular hole. Immediately to the lower right of the cabin air filter is something that looks like a black sponge...this sponge is soaked with oil.

Is this normal? Where is the oil coming from?


instagram photo download chrome
 
My guess would be debris was in the filter and decayed into the oily substance. Leaves for example could do that. I've changed out air filters for other friends and family, sometimes that area can be filled with dead material like that requiring a shop vac to get it all out.
 
knightmb said:
My guess would be debris was in the filter and decayed into the oily substance. Leaves for example could do that. I've changed out air filters for other friends and family, sometimes that area can be filled with dead material like that requiring a shop vac to get it all out.

What about that black "sponge?"
 
I suspect the residue is HVAC compressor oil. How is the performance of your AC? Have there been any repairs done to the HVAC system at some point?
 
Nubo said:
I suspect the residue is HVAC compressor oil. How is the performance of your AC? Have there been any repairs done to the HVAC system at some point?
No work on the AC since I've owned the car (~3 years). AC and everything else seems to work fine.
 
JohnGalt69 said:
Nubo said:
I suspect the residue is HVAC compressor oil. How is the performance of your AC? Have there been any repairs done to the HVAC system at some point?
No work on the AC since I've owned the car (~3 years). AC and everything else seems to work fine.

Some LEAFs experienced leaks in the area where the HVAC lines pass through the firewall. Yours might have been one and gotten repaired. I don't know of any other source of oil in that area. Any leak big enough to lose that much oil would have allowed refrigerant to escape so if your AC is working it seems unlikely that the leak is a current one. I'd soak up the oil with cloths and keep an eye on it to see if it recurs. Do NOT introduce any kind of dye products into the lines. They could ruin the electric compressor.
 
Back
Top