Oily substance under heatsink

[ICUB4UCME]

so i'm working with my Asus P4S800 and i pull the heatsink off of the northbridge and i notice a thin, clear, oily substance surrounding the grease spot. is this a bad sign? or is it normal? i've never seen anything like it coming from ordinary silicon grease.

 

[Liquidlen]

Sounds fishy; since you have it open , give both surfaces a good cleaning and then apply Artic silver or your brand .It should not be oily in that area.

 

[Vigilante]

I open a lot of heatsinks and apply a lot of "goop" in my work. I DO see sometimes when opening a gel case that some kinds will have a bit of oil loose. Kind of like adding oil to peanut butter or when oils come up out of your sour cream or whatever. I just mix the oil back up with the goop and apply it. Sounds like the stuff on yours was just old.

Like Liquidlen said, a good cleaning and some new gel will do the trick.

 

[ICUB4UCME]

i geuss that does make some sense now that you say that because the grease thats on there is a bit more dried and flaky/crusty than lithium typically is. thanks a lot