Grease leaking from my doors

[eanema]

Hi Folks,
My girlfriend came home this morning after her night shift and found a bunch of grease/oil that had dripped from my door onto the door jam and running board. I had been tubing yesterday and our drunken friend had been sitting shotgun on the ride home. She had guessed that Jess had left something nasty in the door, but this is happening on all 4 doors, closest to the wheel wells.

Its a thick honey-like consistency petroleum product. I have no idea what it is because as far as I know there is nothing greased in the doors... Its been ~30oC (86oF for all you southerners so I assume this is just grease melting... any Ideas what this from?!? I attached a few pics to make it easier to ID.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Very strange. All four doors you said? The only thing I can think of with any kind of lube built into them is the window motors. Has anyone lubed the door latches?

 

[pluton]

I've looked inside Toyota truck doors many times, including my current 4Runner.
The only grease inside the door should be an extremely minimal amount on the gear, sliding channels, and pivot points of the window regulator, and maybe a tiny amount on/in the lock mechanism...and I'm not even sure about the lock.
How long have you had this truck?
Could there be a PO(Previous Owner) involved here?
The kind of PO---or PO's service shop--- that overzealously slobbers way too much grease onto a mechanism when a little will do?
It's not very difficult to pull off the trim panel from the door if you want to investigate further.

 

[JayRolla]

All I have to say is WTF!!

Is it grease, mud, dirt, gear oil, oil wtf is it!

 

[eanema]

Lol, WTF is right! haha, I dunno what it is but it definitely feels like grease. But its a light brown/honey coloured... and ya I just bought this truck in November of 2014. I believe I am the 3rd owner. I haven't cracked the panel off yet, I'll have to wait till later on this afternoon to take a look but I couldn't imagine what all that grease could have been applied to.. maybe the window used to squeak? We'll I'll open up the doors this afternoon and keep you all posted.
Thanks!

 

[threadlessclimber]

Is is fluid film to prevent corrosion in the doors? Why it's leaking I don't know?

 

[96LTDrus]

It is very likely that this is aftermarket rustproofing oil that is getting a bit too thin in the summer heat. Seeing as you're in Canada where rust proofing seems to be a more common practice, my money is on that.

 

[96LTDrus]

Is is fluid film to prevent corrosion in the doors? Why it's leaking I don't know?

Yep, beat me to it by a minute! The Fluid Film on my truck stays pretty viscous even in the summer heat in Indiana, but any time I have shop lights on under the truck, they can heat up the frame enough for it to start dripping off onto the lights.

 

[eanema]

Rust proofing! That's what this is! But damn, there is A LOT of grease in there! It was an inch thick on the bottom. I opened up each door and scooped out many hand-fulls of the stuff. I didn't wipe it clean because I figured its better than rust... wow still surprised.

I attached a few pics for those who are interested. It looks like it was sprayed on fairly think all over the door, and over time it has all melted and pooled in the bottom of the door. There are two holes on the bottom of the door for drainage and that is where the oil is leaking out of. I feel like a product similar to bed liner would be a better idea for rust proofing... this stuff just makes a hell of a mess.

 

[Kanoe]

Welcome to Canada!

Mine still drips on a hot day too. But I would rather deal with the greasy goop any day than have to deal with fixing rust. There are enough threads about rust already.

I sure wish they could use something other than salt on our roads....

 

[nissanh]

Grease in the water drain channels can cause flooding inside the doors and may leak into your floor

 

[eanema]

Ya, I felt like removing most of the grease was the right thing to do. I left sufficient for it to do its job, it was really thick. It really would be nice if there wasn't so much salt on the road in the winter...