I bought a pre-certified '04 GX 470 with 17,000 miles last week. I really like it so far, but there is one issue I don't really understand. There is an oily, black substance that splatters on the side of the car behind the tires. At first, I thought it was from driving on a road with fresh oil on it, but when my wife took it to the dealer for a minor issue, the service rep said some GX's have this from the brakes and there really isn't anything that can be done to fix it. I had an RX and never experienced this problem.

Anyone experience this problem? What, if anything can you do besides wipe the oily substance off daily? Seems odd that it only affects some GX's.

Thanks,

TexasNArk

 

Hopefully its just that heavy coat of tire grease that many dealers put on the sidewalls of the tires to give them a shine. Try washing the vehicle and see if it still does it.

 

I agree with BobsGX, I have only seen this with too much Tire Shine. You should not have anything black and oily on your GX.

 

Is the grease coming from the ball joints?

 

Go back to your service rep and point out:

- substance is coming from "somewhere", which means that "somewhere" is losing this substance (oil, grease, fluid)

- that "somewhere" is either overfull so losing some doesn't matter, in that case please correct the amount in the "somewhere"

- or that "somewhere" is leaking, and I need to know why you can't stop if from leaking and what are the ramifications when it gets too low

In either case, it is a problem and needs to be handled (assuming that the "somewhere" is somewhere on your vehicle ).

 

BobsGX,

You were correct! Thanks for the help. No problems after the wash.

 

Glad to hear it. Like I said, many dealers/detailers put that tire/wheel bearing grease stuff on the sidewalls to make it shine.

 

yea that's why i don't use tire dressing anymore. they just make a bigger mess (even though they make the tires look great). at first i thought it might be some fluid leaking

 

Have you tried this:
http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...ory_Code=Zaino
Works great and does not sling off the tires.

 

Sounds like tire shine to me.
CV

 

oh wow. that looks interesting.... i might check that out. it even says that it's used not only for tires but for other applications also.