Mystery oily oozing near wheel need advice

Hi All,
I'm trying to keep my old 2007 Jimny (from Japan) alive here on a small island where I live. I don't know much about cars but have been able to do little fixes like patch up the radiator with high temp epoxy, minimize rust with rust converter and lube locks and hinges with WD40, but I NEED YOUR HELP and advice please.  This week, I spotted an 'oily oozing' coming from an area just behind my front left tire. I'm worried it could be the sign of something serious.  Could you Jimny Xperts please look at these photos and advise me what I'm looking at in these photos and IF I need to worry about this stuff that seems to be oozing out of this area behind the left front tire. See photos please.           

That is most likely a leaking half shaft seal. This is generally caused by worn swivel bearings. It's a simple if messy repair job. If you do a search on YouTube for suzuki jimny swivel repair you should find a number of videos showing the process.
If you don't feel up to the job any garage can do it.

It's not an urgent problem but you do need to fix it at some point.

Thanks so much for your note. I'm living on a small island and it's very hard to get parts for my 2003 Jimny! What's the worst thing that can happen if I just ignore this very slow oozing leak??? Thanks!
(steering will suddenly stop? or wheel will suddenly stop rolling?)
total newbie who knows very little about cars

Nothing drastic will happen but the main parts you need should be easy to find. The bearings you need are 30302 taper rollers. They are a common bearing used in many applications, so if there is any sort of industry on your island you should be able to find them. The seal can also be replaced with an off the shelf part. Its a rotary shaft seal, size 26x38x8.

The oil coming out is from the front differential. The differential is only moving when you're in 4wd, so in many instances they can go for years with no oil without causing problems. However if you use 4wd regularly then keep an eye on the differential oil level. But keep in mind they can leak for a long time before it get's low enough to cause an issue.

Thanks for your awesome explanation of my leaking front wheel seal on my 2003 Suzuki Jimny. QUESTION: If i never use 4WD, then it won't matter at all if the oil leaks out of the front differential?? It's not going to affect the stearing or anything like that is it? Sorry for my dumb questions!

I have studied up on how to check the differential oil level and how to 'top it off', so if the leak lets out too much diff oil, I think I can top it off now, if I can find the right kind of oil on my small island. Your answer was invaluable! Thanks again!

It will depend on the amount of mileage you do and the state of the roads. Eventually it will kill the bearings and will have excess vertical movement of the wheel an eventually fore and aft movement enough to fail a roadworthiness test or even with enough time kill the mounting point on the axle. It will exhibit as an increasing wobble through the steering wheel at around 45mph. I wouldn't leave it much longer than it would take to get the bits to repair it.

You could also check the small cap on the vent at the center of the shaft. if it is stuck and clogged from dirt and rust the oil when heated from normal driving will press out the seal.
On the pictures your car looks fairly clean and not so rusted but it is worth a check.
the wheel will not fall off from lack of oil or worn bearings for years I would guess, but when it does the car is most likely dead. I would fix the seal and bearings and your car will last for ages.

And use oil/grease rather than WD40 for lubing stuff..

The WD40 can be used to loosen stuff like your vent cap on the shaft if stuck.

Thanks for your insights! Invaluable! I drive only short trips on mostly paved roads, but the leak in the front right started after I hit a bad pothole pretty hard! I never drive more than a few miles a day and at a max speed of maybe 50 or 60 kmh (31-37 MPH). I think I found the parts online to do a kingpin bearing replacement (kit), but I worry that on my small island the mechanics will screw it up so bad that I would have been better off just topping up the differential oil from time to time. The car was used (direct from Japan via roll-on-roll-off ship) when I bought it and shipped it to the island. It's a 2003 Jimny which I obtained in 2016, so now its 21 years old(!). I'm just hoping to 'nurse it along' for my short somewhat slow trips. I do sometimes carry some heavy loads (scuba gear!) and maybe that will cause issues also? I guess I could order the kingpin bearing replacement kit and have it ready just in case???

It's a 2003 Jimny that I obtained used from Japan in 2016. The automatic transmission has been rather jerky from the start...which is probably why the owner in Japan sold it (sold for $3,000 US in 2016). I watch a car guy on youtube who said be careful about replacing the transmission fluid or maybe even the oil if the car is rather old...as the friction from the fluids might be the only thing keep the thing going? Or maybe that was only the transmission fluid. I ordered an oil filter from Suzuki Japan but am afraid to try to change the oil in case the oil drain plug breaks or leaks after the change...and then I have no way to fix that. I drive it only about 4,000KM/year so it is lightly used, but is vital! Guess I'd better order an oil drain plug?

The owner of this site Martin sells the kingpin bearing kits including oil seals but not sure if he can ship to Bonaire or how much shipping would be, have a look in the BigJimny shop in the banner at the top and send him a message.

Martin has also made a video and there is a step by step guide on replacing the kingpins and many other tasks, it is quite straight forward and anyone who has a garage there could do the job. It’s no harder than replacing a wheel bearing, I should know I did both on my Gen3.

If your mechanic got stuck you could always ask for help on the forum, no matter where you buy your parts from.

Robin

You shouldn't be worried about changing the engine oil, it's an easy routine job and important for the health of your engine.

Changing the transmission oil is more complicated and best done by a garage with experience, but again, it's a routine procedure that shouldn't be ignored.

It's a 20 year old Japanese car. It's engineered to be practical, reliable and robust. It's not a delicate european classic car that will fall apart if you look at it wrong. You don't need to fear working on it!