Black Spots Under The Hood
 

Does anyone know what these black spots are? They're on the driver's side under the hood, midway up. Any feedback is much appreciated.

I don't drive hard, mainly freeway/highway driving, and just passed 10k (bought it new at the end of April). No mods aside from a K&N drop in filter. Also it's a manual transmission.

Bug poop?

Under the hood though?

I tried searching, and any problems people had were on the passenger side O_o

are they liquid or solid?

Did you have it undercoated? Appears to have happened all at the same time as there is little overlap or layering.

It seems to be liquid. I've wiped it off once, and they came back.

No undercoating.

HMMM Odd. The fact you cleaned it up and it came back explains the lack of layering but also means it isn't a one off thing. Now I gotta go look at mine!

Have you checked all your fluid levels lately? Especially the oil.

Oh man, this is really making me want to go look under my hood.
Hopefully it's nothing terrible!

Don't claim to be CSI but my job does entail analyzing spatter patterns sometimes. This one has relay grabbed my interest.
So what we can tell (so far) from the info we have received or can reasonably deduce from the picture is:
1) It came from pretty much straight below - Almost perfectly round spots
2) It is fairly low velocity - Not smeared or "spider webbed"
3) It is liquid - OPs statement
4) It has repeated - Was wiped up and came back
5) is not to frequent - Not much overlap or blending

Took a look and didn't see any obvious source under the hood.
Does it have any odour?

taste it.

Only if you already know what you fluids taste like!
Mind you I have had a mouthful of oil more then once over the years.

Yeah, this is odd.

I checked the oil a couple of weeks ago. No drop in level or even change in color (it still looks fresh).

No odor under the hood or when driving.

I'll pass :lol:

I'll touch it with my finger and take a waft so see if there's an odor tho. lol

Damn this is a mystery. What is under the hood that could be greased or lubed? Drive shaft is further under the car. Is there something there that could be rotating and throwing this liquid.

Is it anywhere else? on the engine or tranny? or battery? does it drip at all? Put some cardboard under it and let the car sit for as long as you can. See if it collects something.

My first thought was something thrown up from a belt but then the spots would not be nice and round like that. Anything thrown from a high speed rotating shaft, belt, etc would create lines or oblong marks.
That is why I asked the rust proof question as this looks very nicely sprayed from a short distance away with a low pressure source. There may have been a very slight back to front angle as the top spots are a little more spaced out then the bottom but there are still spots away from the central pattern on the bottom.
THIS IS GOING TO KEEP ME AWAKE AT NIGHT!

Anyone have your spare key. Maybe they are just F-ing with ya :iono:

Don't know about OP but they got into MY head if they are!

Only spot is there, and a couple dots on the back end of the hood. I don't see any drips, but it's hard to put cardboard under the car as I live in an apartment complex.

Nope, I have my second key.

They feel sticky. Can't smell an odor either. This is weird.

I think I noticed the exact same dots under my hood during my last track day.

Were they located towards the battery, near the passenger side firewall?

Nope, these are on the driver side. The passenger side is clean of any spots.

Is your oil filter on tight? See any liquids in the area under the hood where it could be coming from? I would look directly below where the spot is on the hood and check as there has to be some evidence of where it's coming from since you say it comes back if you clean it.

Ok I will check my car when I get home. I thought I remembered seeing them on the passenger side.

ive got them under my hood too. Been happening almost the whole time Ive had the car.

Never thought about the oil filter. But what's directly below is an AC line, and 4 other hoses. I'll take a pic later when I get home.

Same area as mine?

I've had these as well. ignored em.

lol, I take it it's nothing to worry about, but I'd still like to know what's causing them. I'm a little OCD when it comes to cleanliness of my car.

What's below the area where the spots form.

Do you have a black light? If so, see if the spots fluoresce green/yellow.

I had one, but moved so many times that I have no clue where it went. What would it mean if it glowed?

not on mine but I have DGM so maybe I can't see it

Nothing there that would give a nice neat pattern above without leaving some sort of mark on all that spaghetti of hoses!

Hmmm, I'm completely stumped then. Haha.

What are those hoses for anyway?

Put a GoPro and a light up under there and go for a ride.

I unfortunately don't own a GoPro.

HVAC, pollution control and fuel mostly.

So like you said, nothing that would make sticky black dots. Haha

Nothing that SHOULD!
This is driving me nuts!
Especially since others say they have it as well so it isn't a "one off"
Absolutely positive that it isn't a bad thing or a huge concern but WHAT THE HELL IS IT?????????
Apparently I have just discovered I may have OCD!