Rear axle seal.

[nicbeer]

I think i have just busted one as there is oil leaking out of the brakes area. making a nice mess of the tyre and rim.

What is involved and what has to be done to do one of these.

1.3 NT drover.

cheers

[-Mick-]

pull the axle.... replace the seal.... replace the axle

[inka]

if oil is coming out then you might have to look at wheel bearings and brake shoes too bud...
bearings are a press off and on too in case no idea...

[small talk]

Are you saying that because oil is leaking out the wheel bearings and brakes will be stuffed too, because that would make alot of sence on my truck the brakes are cactus and pull to the right because i have an axel seal leaking on the left. would this be correct?

small talk.

[inka]

absolutely likely bud..... oil leaking means its gotta go not somewhere but everywhere......
also if it is leaking bad enough you are more likly to start a fire with hot oil..... not to make ya panic or anything but me, i would fix it and now hey

[Podge]

Got to agree on the wheel bearing aspect. It is not uncommon for the bearing to be buggered and in turn buggering up the seal. You can probably count on having replace the bearing (inc. bearing, collar and seal). The brake shoes you won't really know the extent of until it's all dismantled. If you have found the leak early enough the shoes may have been saved from the oil leaking onto them.

[nicbeer]

hmmm,

would the seal bugga itself only and not the wh bearing?? is this possible as i cannot hear any bearing noises from the rear.

cheers

[Podge]

You don't have to neccessarily hear the bearing if it's buggered but yes the seal can leak also without being provoked by the bearing. It's happened before now. The main causes of a rear axle seal leaking are:
1. Having been replaced recently and the replacement seal not being installed correctly.
2. Replaced seal being too narrow and not sealing on the collar (the best seal to use is 10mm wide)

[suzy]

I had sh*t coming out of my drum and i just put a wheel bearing kit in with seal collar and bearing and it doesn't leek now but getting the axle out was a prik i used a winch to pull it while i taped it and then i had to heat the coolar up so i could get it off,but being a boilermaker/welder heating things and hitting stuff is my sport.

[Spike_Sierra]

i did my rear wheel bearings at our college workshop,made a slide hammer to get the axel out, oxy'd the bearing off(wouldn't come off with heat and hammer)
put new bearing on with 10 tonne press, made sure it was sitting in excatly the right spot again, put in new axel seal with a little oil around the rim, replaced the same as i took it off. seems fine now, and i didnt think my bearings were stuffed but i had a couple of ball bearings missing and all the cages were broken... still drove ok tho

[nicbeer]

This sounds like fun.

Can this be done with out taking the brakes off? In the FSM it does not say to take the brakes off. I believe this is different in the WT to the NT.

I have never touched the rear since i have had it (3yrs). spose something had to give oneday.

cheers

[Podge]

You've got no choice in regards to the brakes, whether it be N/T or W/T the basic brake set up is the same. The whole brake set up (ie wheel cylinder, brake shoes, adjuster etc.) is attached to the backing plate. The backing plate sits between the end of the axle and the bearing. If it is a N/T, disconnect the brake line from the cylinder (if W/T disconnect both handbrake and brake line) before attempting to take out the axle. The collar is difficult to get off. The Suzuki workshop manual recommends that you grind and cold chisel the locking collar off the axle but the oxy is a great help. You will have to bleed the brakes upon reassembly.

As it has been mentioned, it can be difficult to get the axle out. I made up a slide hammer but have had times where that hasn't been enough to get the axle out.

[christover1]

only 1.0 litre axles can be removed with brakes still in place...dunno why that had to change.
christover

[derelict_frog]

One of my rear ones went and i drove round for about 2 weeks like that, pretty much everything in the end of the axle needed replacing including the brake which was down to the metal lol, i go the other 3 (seals) done at the same time, they were like $80 each (including labor) so not real cheap.

[Pinball]

Be careful pulling the old bearing, if u score the surface it will continue to leak.... serious pita..

brake shoes can delaminate from oil contamination... at best it lubricates and buggers the braking effect.. oil into a sealed bearing will also bugger it as it washes all the grease out..

Spock

[nicbeer]

done it now.

Found out that the previous owner had put the seal in backwards and the spring facing outwards :(

swapped it and seems all good now

cheers