Weird, black, tarry stuff... WTH?!?

Scalded Dog · 08-11-2016, 02:20 PM

I recently bought a 1993 full- sized Blazer. The owner passed away, and his wife sold me the car.

He took care of the thing very well... it's an absolute cream puff. Perfectly maintained, clean, leak- free... not a single light bulb is out, inside or out. The upholstery and carpet are spotless, and there aren't even any exterior dings, dents, or scratches. It's like a new car.

However, I am mystified by what I found behind the spare tire. On this vehicle, the spare tire is mounted inside the rear cargo area. There's a "rack" that the wheel bolts onto, and there is a zippered fabric cover for the tire, which matches the interior upholstery and keeps the tire out of sight.

Last night, removed the cover... and where it contacted the rack and spare (on the "back" of the spare), there was this black, tarry, greasy crap... all over the place. I then unbolted the spare (it is like new!), and found the black tarry crap all over the inside of the wheel. Finally, the rack itself had the black tarry crap, in copious amounts. It's APPEARANCE (on the rack) was like foam tape... thick, long strips of it. But when you touch it, it's just tarry, greasy goo, extremely thick, but not cohesive or fibrous: Simply greasy gunk. Oddly, it has no smell. It looks and acts like tar (similar consistency and color), but without the smell. I tried scraping it off, but there was too much. I had to unbolt the rack, remove it from the car, and before using hot water and copper wool I had to use some scrap 1x2s I had laying around to get MOST of the crap off.

For the fabric wheel cover, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of that ever coming off... I had to simply cut away the contaminated portions.

What was supposed to be a five minute inspection of the spare turned into a two- hour job, and included a LOT of cursing.

Any ideas on what the crap was? There's no reason to lubricate back there... certainly not with this massive amount. It would not have accidentally gotten there, as it's an out-of-the- way part of the (spotless!) interior of the car. The meticulous previous owner would not have wanted this gunk wrecking his tire cover, or even having gooey crap in his car. Are there padded tape products that degrade over time into tarry, greasy gunk? I'm most baffled by the fact that, until disturbed, it LOOKED like thick tape (1/2" wide, 1/4" thick), with squared edges and ends.... touching it revealed its gooey, disgusting, filthy nature.

Anybody know?

08-11-2016, 02:20 PM	#1
Scalded Dog Drives: 2011 1LT Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Crestline, CA Posts: 3,029	Weird, black, tarry stuff... WTH?!? I recently bought a 1993 full- sized Blazer. The owner passed away, and his wife sold me the car. He took care of the thing very well... it's an absolute cream puff. Perfectly maintained, clean, leak- free... not a single light bulb is out, inside or out. The upholstery and carpet are spotless, and there aren't even any exterior dings, dents, or scratches. It's like a new car. However, I am mystified by what I found behind the spare tire. On this vehicle, the spare tire is mounted inside the rear cargo area. There's a "rack" that the wheel bolts onto, and there is a zippered fabric cover for the tire, which matches the interior upholstery and keeps the tire out of sight. Last night, removed the cover... and where it contacted the rack and spare (on the "back" of the spare), there was this black, tarry, greasy crap... all over the place. I then unbolted the spare (it is like new!), and found the black tarry crap all over the inside of the wheel. Finally, the rack itself had the black tarry crap, in copious amounts. It's APPEARANCE (on the rack) was like foam tape... thick, long strips of it. But when you touch it, it's just tarry, greasy goo, extremely thick, but not cohesive or fibrous: Simply greasy gunk. Oddly, it has no smell. It looks and acts like tar (similar consistency and color), but without the smell. I tried scraping it off, but there was too much. I had to unbolt the rack, remove it from the car, and before using hot water and copper wool I had to use some scrap 1x2s I had laying around to get MOST of the crap off. For the fabric wheel cover, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of that ever coming off... I had to simply cut away the contaminated portions. What was supposed to be a five minute inspection of the spare turned into a two- hour job, and included a LOT of cursing. Any ideas on what the crap was? There's no reason to lubricate back there... certainly not with this massive amount. It would not have accidentally gotten there, as it's an out-of-the- way part of the (spotless!) interior of the car. The meticulous previous owner would not have wanted this gunk wrecking his tire cover, or even having gooey crap in his car. Are there padded tape products that degrade over time into tarry, greasy gunk? I'm most baffled by the fact that, until disturbed, it LOOKED like thick tape (1/2" wide, 1/4" thick), with squared edges and ends.... touching it revealed its gooey, disgusting, filthy nature. Anybody know?