Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Rear axle seal leak

Does anyone have a cutaway view of the rear axle bearing/seal area of a '70 4/4 rear axle assembly. Mine has started to leak and I want to replace the seals. I don't have any problem doing the repairs but I don't have a clue as to what is in that area and what is involved in performing the maintenance. I could take it apart and figure it out but I'd really like to know what I need before I start to minimize downtime. The workshop manual is useless and I can't find out anything from my usual sources. Thanks.

Try these maybe.

http://www.morgan-spares.com/fourfour/axles4-4.html
http://www.morgan-spares.com/images/parts_book_graphics/combined/rear_axle.jpg

First is it the Pinion Seal that is leaking or one of the wheel bearing seals?

Button
Seattle

It is on the left side wheel. I don't know and probably can't determine if it is the inner seal or the outer seal but since I have liquid on the floor, I guess that it probably is the inner seal which is most likely more difficult to replace. Am I going to have to pull the axle? I'm not excited about doing this task but it needs to be done.

Just remember to leave enough space if you need to pull the halfshaft. There are stories of having to remove a brick from the garage wall to get the halfshaft out..............

You will need to pull the axle. I use a very heavy slide hammer called "MORGAN". As I have wire wheel hubs I have adapted the "SPINNER" (DRILLED A HOLE) use with the slide hammer.

How much oil is on the floor. Are you sure it is gear oil and not grease. Have You greased the zerk on the end properly. There is a little hole opposite the zerk. Pump grease into the zerk until 1" of grease comes out this hole. You have not overfilled the diff with gear oil have you. If you did not use the hole in back of the diff to get the level of oil proper and used the hole on top of the diff instead you could have overfilled. The inner seal is a just a leather disk. I open the plug in back of the diff and pour oil into the hole in the top until it pours out the hole in back.

Button
Seattle

Done this job recently on my 1972 4/4

Root cause was a blocked breather hole in the axle tube causing the axle to pressurise and force the oil past the seal.

Couple of tips:

i) check the axle breather hole isn't blocked - mine was! blocked by paint and hardened grease/oil/dirt. I had to drill it clear with a 3 mm drill!

ii) Better if you can get the wire wheel hubs off (if you have them) before you take the half shafts out as you still need to get the seal holders off once the shafts are out.

Use a fairly good quality three leg puller on the hub once you have slackened off the centre nut, Use a piece of soft metal eg brass or alloy between the screw on the puller and the end of the half shaft.

If it fails to shift it, don't increase the leverage on what ever you are using to tighten the nut on the puller as all you will do is bend the screw on the puller and/or bell out the end of the half shaft

Instead, tighten up the puller as much as you can and then leave it overnight. When you return to the job in the morning, 9 times out of 10, the hub will be loose. Don't know why it should but it does! The only time it failed, I have the puller a fairly heavy clout with a copper hammer and the hub flew off the half shaft.

iii) The inner seal (marked 3HA 027 -3 from memory) - its more of a baffle than a seal I think. I had to buy a pair recently for the Plus 4 and they are a bit tricky to find and expensive when you do. SNG Barrett stock them as they are used on a Jaguar.

iv) The outer seal/hub seal is readily available from any half decent bearing suppliers. I don't have the GACO number to hand. I got enough seals for two axles from Wych Bearings for less than £10

v) Your brake shoes will need to be replace so budget for this. There are all sorts of potions claimed to remove oil from friction material but I don't trust them and anyway, new rear brake shoes are cheap!!

Hope this helps

Arwyn

http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/97452/4/4_Rear_Axle_Grease_Seals#Post97452

Here's a few photos from when I did it.

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but thought it best to keep the info in the same place!

My inner seal has been leaking (quite a lot - but I have done over 1000 miles in the last week or so).

It is defintiely the inner seal - the outer axle seal is clean and dry (and very new), and the oil has forced its way past the outer gasket edge.

Following Arwyn's advice, I've checked the axle breather and it was indeed very blocked. The diff may have been slightly overfilled (my drive is on a slight slope).

In the short term, I've unblocked the breather and stuck several shots of grease into the axle, until the oil has come out and grease was coming through.

As the inner seal is more of a 'baffle' as Arwyn said, now the breather is clear, what do we reckon on the chances of the seal now being OK? Wishful thinking?

It's not a massive ball ache to get to the seal - its the same side as I had apart earlier in the year (and I didn't replace the inner seal then as was told they rarely fail) but no point creating work if not needed. I've degreased the hub and have new shoes to put on her.

Decided to leave alone and see what happens. If she's covered in oil again in a couple of weeks, I'll replace the seal (although only stockist I've found is Morgan Spares in the US).