HELP! Fluid on brake pedal return spring???

[duckbill]

I got in my truck this weekend and noticed an oily residue on my husky floor mat. I took a quick peak and found a drip hanging on the brake pedal assembly just waiting to fall to the floor mat. It stayed there for a couple of days and I finally had time to go investigate a little further to figure out what was going on. I wiped up the drip that was hanging and started looking for the source. I expected to find the fluid coming from where the brake assembly goes through the firewall, but all looked find and dry. I finally found what looks to be the source all the way at the top of the brake assembly on the brake pedal return spring. It's the spring that keeps tension on the brake pedal and returns it to the normal position after releasing the brake. Anyways, there's an oily residue all over that spring. What the heck is that and what do I need to fix? I'm sure the fluid is coming from another source above that and dripping down? I can't figure out what fluid would be around that spring. Thanks for any help.

[ryan.sampson]

my initial thought was someone sprayed the spring because it was squeaking?? how long has the truck been yours?

2nd thought.. dry it to the best of your ability, drive it some more, and look for any residual fluid

i find it had to believe theres some kind of leak somewhere, i can't think of any fluid systems there, so i'd clean it and see if it comes back, if it does then you know theres a problem

[duckbill]

Yeah, I cleaned the drip up as best I could and wiped down the area. I touched the residue on the spring with my finger and it was tacky/gunky as if it has been there a while. I'll just keep an eye on it and see what happens.

[ryan.sampson]

yah i had something similar on the bottom of my seat near one of the frame joints, being the picky guy i am, i cleaned the crap out of it, even used some break cleaner, a couple days later it started squeaking... quickly figured out what the junk there was from