I have noticed some weird green slime at the pressure lines at the top of the radiator (?) at the front of my x308.
It seems this is some sort of leak-detection thing that comes from one of the pressure lines.

Is anybody familiar with this symptom and has a clue for me what I can further do in order to narrow down this problem?

Thank you very much,
bf

 

Doesn't appear to be from the joint on the AC pressure line as it is not at the joint between the silver and the black halves of the joint. Possibly a small leak of coolant from the plastic side of the radiator from a tiny crack? Is your coolant green colour? Wash the "slime" well then try to spot where the leak is actually coming from.

 

Thanks for your input.

I don't think it is coolant because my car is using the orange/red one (just did coolant flush so this is a fresh memory )

Actually I cleaned up the area a bit before taking the picture. Please see the red square in the image - would this be AC system?

 

Yes, it's the A/C system. Probably leak detection material left from a previous problem.

 

On my 98’ XJR, I had a condenser tube rub through where the sheet metal was riding up against it in that exact same spot. All you have to do is remove the upper radiator support panel Torx 30 and 40 bolts, tilt the radiator back towards the engine and see if yours made contact like mine did.

 

The car had front crash a couple of years ago, maybe it is residue from the shop who fixed it - if they fixed it at all.

How would you proceed in this case? These are the steps I have in mind:

1) clean up everything
2) buy leak detection spray that makes AC fluid visible (?)
3) figure out where leak is
4) replace faulty part

Is that a sensible timeline? Or would you just replace stuff?

 

Will check - thank you very much for this hint.

 

After removing upper radiator support panel I have taken some pictures.

I think the leak is here in the black holding bit which forced its way into the pipe.

The front looks good.

Zoom out of the leaky part

 

So basically we are talking about a replacement of the front condenser? Is it like this? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351382541837

 

You don't need to rush into buying new parts. Now that you have cleaned it up, observe for some time and see if the "green" comes back. Also, if the leak is from the AC pipe it would have (or it will soon) caused the AC to stop working. So, give it some time and if the slime does not reappear and you do not have loss of refrigerant or coolant, it could mean that the slime was from some previous fault that was fixed but the area was not washed.

 

Agree: that slime looks all the world like the stuff that blows off from a blown A/C switch . . . likely from some time ago since there is none on the picture of the switch

 

Indeed the slime does come back. Funnily I have noted a drop in my coolant level. My current coolant is yellow.
Are you 100% sure this is AC system or could this be linked somehow to coolant system?

Edit: My AC system is also had some drop in pressure, so it might be that as well.

Thank you very much

 

If the green deposit is oily, then it is most probably a leak from the AC system. See pic below: If the deposit is right at the joint (green line) and if there is none at the back where the yellow line is pointing, then it could just be the O-ring inside which can easily be replaced.

 

ac compressor oil