I was doing my oil change saw some possible oil or dirt like tar on the circled part. I whipped it away already but it was dark/black. The location is on passenger side right above the steering rack. Not sure if something is leaking from above. Any ideas

 

That is your air conditioning compressor. If it's oil, it's probably coming from the valve cover gaskets, or possibly from spillage from the fill neck as oil gets put back in. The part you circled is the mounting... um, well, the mounting part (sorry, not an engineer) where that bolt stud on the 'right' of that pictured piece goes through. A bracket is put on that stud part, and then a nut on that. There's three others for that compressor to mount it directly to the engine block.
http://iihs.net/fsm/?d=336&f=Air%20C...6L,%205.4L.pdf

It's *possible*, but probably not, that the A/C itself may be leaking. You can have that checked to see if there's a leak with a machine, but it'll cost a little bit. I'd rather think you'd have noticed that, but maybe you're in a climate where it's not important at the moment...?

The likely scenario, to me, is the above 'oil seep/spill' going on, and then the road grime and/or compressor clutch dust combining to make a mess. Cars aren't clean by any means unless they're not being used. Check around the entire right side of the block for anything else. May even be a timing cover seep, but probably not... just gotta look/find it if it's there.

I think you're ok on this bit. Monitor it to see if it comes back. Hope that helps!

 

Big thanks, im also not sure what it exactly is. When i was under i checked the surrounding area and above best i could and didnt find anything at the time. It may just be dirt grimes. Weird its only that spot had it, Ill check again soon see if it anything alarming.


edit
Crawled back under today took better pics, the oil or dirt grime seems to be further up. Still not sure if its oil or dirt on the new spots, what do you think? image are huge feel free to zoom in

 

Ok, that's the timing cover-block-oil pan RTV poking through, and that's completely normal. All three parts join up there, and it's impossible to hard gasket. There's a gasket on the oil pan to block, which extends out under the timing cover. there's a gasket on the timing cover to block as well. But at the junction of those three... they just stick a little RTV there and that thing you see is the excess that squeezes out when the parts are mated and tightened up. It's completely fine.

Matter of fact, I don't see anything out of the ordinary except it's un-ordinarily clean, and that's all good!

If the oil comes out, it's probably coming from a seeping timing gasket, or you/someone is spilling a little when filling oil on an oil change.

Again, monitor it and keep an eye on your oil level... maybe once a week, unless the seep/leak is noticeable. But I still think you're OK with it as is.

 

Im abit confused, Im not talking about the RTV i cropped out from above picture.




Theres still some black oil or dirt grime on the on the center of pic and up in the dark area. Werent able to reach that area to clean it up but thats the leak i was referring to.



I think i saw some thread on timing gasket leak on 13-14 stangs in some forums. Anyone else experience this?

 

If you are worried about it, spray it down with some Simple Green to get the bigger part of it out, rince it and drive the car through 5 or 6 heat cycles where the engine actually warms up and then look to see if anything is leaking. If nothing keep driving and check again. All engines weep a little, you have different metal thicknesses, cork and rubber that heat up and cool at different speeds so you have to expect a little.
That big glob right above the line is Black RTV.

 

FYI, it's not a good idea to use silicone RTV in areas where it could come loose and get into the oil system. That silicone doesn't break up in the oil and could get stuck in a narrow passage and cause a loss of flow.

 

Eh... yes, you don't want excess, but the factory is really kinda sloppy on those 8 joints they use the silicone RTV in. I don't think there's a good way not to. I mean, it's gotta be enough to squish, which means you're gonna get some in the 'oil area'. But then it's cured, and so it's likely just gonna hang around, staying attached to the main glop, flappin' in the breeze, if you will.

Also, I'm thinkin' that unless it somehow blows right through the oil filter, which shouldn't be possible except in micron sizes... which I'm not sure would cause blockages unless a whole lot of it got through, and where's it comin' from... if RTV somehow fell off a main glop, it'll probably just live at the bottom of the pan and/or get drained out with the next oil change or two, and/or get caught in the filter if it gets sucked in to the pickup...

... but I'm just an armchair Tuesday Morning mechanic kibitzer, pay me no mind.