Rear suspension bush leaking something

ok this is a bit of wierd one, i thought these bushes were dry but on moving the car this morning i was greeted with a couple of puddles on the drive that looked like oil.

i checked for brake fluid pipe leaks straight away but pipes are all fine and nothing leaking as reservoir still at same level as 3 weeks ago. I noticed all this fluid had also been splashing onto the tyre so there were spots on my mudflap and tail pipe, i noticed these on wed and thought i had driven through something.

behind the wheel is dry. then i noticed the bush is were the leak is - where the axel joins and pivots on the chassis. This is supposed to be dry as i understood it, and couldnt see anything else.

Took it to a local mechanic who confirmed the fluid isnt brake fluid/petrol/engine oil and it has no smell, is oily and dark brown/blacky in colour, like used engine oil. H ealso confirmed all brake lines look ok and it isnt leaking from above, just from this bush. He thinks either someone (ie fiat when last service) sprayed a lubricant in it and with the heat thats come about in the last two days has made it thinner or as a long shot i have run over something, but it drips too much for that once wiped down. whatever it was he couldnt see anything wrong and didnt class it as dangerous, went to another garage who said the same so ran to a fiat dealer who had a look and again confirmed all the above and his tech said it didnt taste like oil or usual fluids so suspects when serviced lube was added to the bush and its started to break down now and create this mess, and again as brake lines and fluid level ok, theres nothing else it could be as shock is too far away and thats not leaking. Going to see what happens over next few weeks but it is wierd

Posting it here incase anyone has something similar or knows what it is

here are some pics of puddles and the leak

my feet size is a 12 for people wanting to compare the size of marks to my feet and there are two puddles as it was parked further back for bin day

Your rear suspension bushes are fluid bearings- a bit like those ghastly cough sweets with syrup inside them - a tough outer case with thick oil inside- so they allow some steering or tracking movement of the rear wheels when cornering to make the back end tuck in better

Looks like the outer seal has gone on one of those bushes and it's that fluid now leaking out

Replacement rear bushes I'm afraid. Have a look in the Stilo Guides to see how some people have managed them but my advice would be


GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT

If you are going to do it yourself then I would do as some others have done after removing the rear beam, swipe out the centre rubber bush part then hacksaw through the outer bush sleeve just enough without damaging the hub so it allows the sleeve to collapse inwards , then it should drift out fairly well

Pressing the new bushes back in
I'd really clean up the hub inside and use plenty of lub but, to get the power to force the bush in, you're going to need a lot of force so rather than use studded bar through the centre of the bush like others have done- which restricts the diameter and therfore how strong the studded bar is going be. I'd use a hefty two armed extractor/ press and a thick steel plate at the rear of the bush mount and push the bush in that way as then you can have a hefty thread, thick diameter screw and a fine thread for more power without stripping the thread

Still get someone else to do it

cheers decks, been to a couple of people tonight who where flumuxed by it as well, that does explain it if it has a knackered bush.

This level of mechanics is above me, so i will be getting someone else to do it. will have to get some pennies together.

anyone got an idea of part number and price to replace?

You learn something new every day, oil filled rubber bushes eh?

I was going to try fitting my bushes by heating the axle housings to expand them then sliding the bushes in (just like fitting a flywheel ring gear) and then cooling it all down quick enough so as not to melt the rubber but not quick enough to temper the housings.

Have to re-think that one now, back to 'plan A' I suppose, make up a press with some old body rams I've got in the garage somewhere.

Dave.

Part number for the bush is 50706312 (x2) but I've heard the bolts seize in so it would be advisable to get them too 50701018 (x2).

Dave.

cheers dave, is it the same part for the whole 3dr/5dr/mw range?

Just found version 41 of ePer. Part numbers have changed to:

Bush 50706505 £15.79 each
Bolt 60657242 £2.34 each

Same for all models.

Dave.

cheers, not to bad price wise but going to kill on labour judging by decks post and the guide

just found on shop4parts but not fiat originals

http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/index.cf...catalogue.list

decks, would this have likely gone pop as there are traces of the fluid everywhere

parts all bought and got someone to fit them for me as well who has done something similar before. work being done on monday eve when i get back from London

Hi. I have done 3 sets of these bushes now on different stilo's the first set took 2 days I have now got it down to 5 hrs with the help of a friend.
A word of warning these bushes are extremely tight, I doubt your friend has done anything like these before, they are like no other car.
Some tips that will be handy.
You need to get the car up high I used axle stands on the chassis rail near the back door. Firstly you must remove the beam from the car Get a jack under the beam on both sides near the back wheels
Undo 2 brake pipes, 2 handbrake cables and the abs sensors and the lower shock absorber bolts. The nearside is the obvious bolt through the middle of the bush, the offside you must undo the shackle, 4 bolts to the bodywork, this is because the fuel tank is too close to remove the centre bolt.
With everything disconnected drop the jacks and you should be able to remove the springs and the beam.
If you look at the old bushes one end has a plate with 3 cut outs in it, knock the plate off. You can now see the rubber insert pay careful attention to the position to the two slots in the rubber centre piece the new one must go back in the same position. I think the holes go top and bottom but check it.
The end where you knocked the plate off you will see what looks like a rubber rim if you get a chisel and make like you’re trying to knock the bush out the whole centre will come out ( took me ages to get the centre out before I realised the easy way).
Pass a hacksaw through the sleeve and carefully cut through it, knock out with a chisel.
O.K that’s the easy bit, pay particular attention to the inside of the carrier especially where the outside is welded to the beam, make sure the inside is dead smooth I used a half round file. I think the welding leaves a raised bit which will make your life hell when you try to put the new bush in.
The new bush.
Knock off the plate as with the old bush, the new bush has a rubber plate also on the other end instead of a second metal plate as per the old bush it makes life easier if you take that off as well.
Now the controversial bit. The first time I done these bushes I got them half way in and they locked solid, I ended up having to cut them out and start again.
Get a carbide sanding disk on a drill and give them a good sanding down, they will still be damned tight but you will have half a chance, you can’t get to the bit where the rubber collar is so you will need a file around that edge (trust me it’s the only way, these bushes are fitted with a 35 ton press at fiats)
Use a length of M12 studding to pull the new bush in, you will need some heavy steel plate to make some spacers and plenty of grease.
Leave the centre bolts loose, when you have reassembled everything use the two jacks to lift the car off the axle stands and tighten the centre bolts, the centre bolts must be tightened at ride height.

Good luck

Seems a bit silly to ruin the new bush to fit it. The bush has to be fitted in with a press pushing on the bush through the three cuts in the outer washer. Better to take the axle to a machine shop or engineering shop to have them pressed in properly than cut the new bushes about.

Hi
You obviously misunderstood my post, you don’t have to cut or ruin the new bush the end plate is only finger tight and you replace it before refitting the beam.
As for having them pressed I have tried many engineering companies, none would touch it.
Most didn’t have a press powerful enough and others couldn’t get the whole beam in a position to even try.
These bushes are actually listed for the stilo now on the new Fiat spares computer disk, as some of you may know as far as fiat was concerned they didn’t exist up until now, so you had to buy a new beam.

The service news was released in 2006, with part numbers, so you are two years out of date with your information, also we use a ten tonne press to push the new bushes in, and any engineering shop that doesnt have a ten tonne press aint much of an engineering shop.