Fluid dribbling down tyre

Just got a E reg 110 hardtop. Last week I had to change a rear drivers tyre and spotted fluid of some sort on the tyre - bottom or tyre chassis side of wheel. Doesn't appear to be much/any on the steel rim.

Vehicle has not moved since.

On the new tyre, I spot the same problem, fresh fluid. I took the brake drum off expecting to find a leak somewhere. Inside the drum is quite dirty and unfortunately did not have much to give it a good clean. It did appear to be full of condensation - probably cold humid weather we are having. The brake cylinder looks OK, no sign of brake fluid leven dropping, hub cap looks ok. Peering behind the hub, the dirt didn't look as if fluid was flowing over it so I am at a loss to explain where it is coming from.

Any suggestions? Could it possibly be the condensation inside the drum dribbling out over the tyre? Its too cold/damp to see if the fluid on the tyre will evaporate but it des not look like pure water. Possibly oil or water contaminated with brake dust.

If its an oil seal, how hard is it to change the seals? Looked in the workshop/Haynes manual and without having the thing apart in front of me, I really cannot gauge what is required.

What sort of price would we be talking about for a garage to change oil seals on both sides of axle and both sets of brake pads - not sure how contaminated they will be.

The other wheel looks OK.

Thanks

Ian

Did you peel back the rubber dust seals on the brake cylinders when you had the drum off? If the brake cylinders are leaking you will find the brake fluid behind the dust seals, it would be best to change the cylinders on both sides of the axle and give it a good bleeding with lots of fresh brake fliud if it is leaking. It is also advisable to replace the brake shoes and clean the drums to remove any brake fluid contamination. Don't take short-cuts with brakes!
Oil seals are easy to do and only cost a few quid, replace the hub gasket at the same time.
Hope this helps,
Simon

One other point to try would be to pump the brakes 10-20 times with the wheel off (but not the drum or it'll pop the pistons / damage the shoes). Then see how much fluid appears around the cylinder rubbers... if there's any fluid showing at all change both cylinders.

I pick up my axle oil seals tomorrow - before fit, I will do as suggested. To be honest, there appears to be too much fluid but no sign of the brake fluid level going down. Got some new brake shoes today which I will not fit until I am sure that there is no more leakage - vehicle is off road at present so a few days on hard standing should be long enough to tell especially once the inside of the drums have been cleaned up.