Oil leak behind back wheel

[biosurf]

Just found a small pool of oil/grease by my drivers side back wheel (just the smaller darker patch) this is about 24 hours since I parked it in that particular bay
[IMG][/IMG]

On inspection the oil had dribbled down the back of the tyre from the rear of the drum. The top and bottom of the rear of the drum are covered in a thin layer of oil/grease (seems like grease to me) there is a bit of grease on the inside of the top of the wheel arch which I guess is spray and nothing on the body of the shock.
[IMG][/IMG]

It is coming through the front slightly


Any ideas. I am, bear in mind a mechanical numpty. Diff oil? Oil from the hub?

Diff oils were changed recently by toyota.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Sorry pics arent great, it wasn't that light.

[GRASSMAN]

Hi biosurf,

This could be two things, half shaft oil seal,
or leaking brake cylinders. either way the brakes
may not work on that wheel. check the brake fluid
level asap. then the diff oil level.
Hope this helps.

Gman.

[biosurf]

Cheers GMAN chaecked brake fluid level in engine bay and looks fine. How do you check diff oil level?

[GRASSMAN]

Cheers GMAN chaecked brake fluid level in engine bay and looks fine. How do you check diff oil level?

Hi mate,

Get under, on the diff housing, at the centre of
the axle there are two plugs one underneath that's
the drain plug, the other is about half way up, remove
this one and oil should dribble out, this indcates the diff
is filled correctly. Try to ID the oil/fluid by smelling it,
oils/fluids have different smells. Keep in touch.

Gman.

[Jonny77]

Can you get the drum off to have a look? Remove the wheel, get 2 M8 bolts, screw them into the 2 tapped holes in the drum, tighten them evenly and the drum will pull off. Once off it will be obvious what is leaking.
Its either gonna be the wheel cylinder (at the top of the back plate) which will be leaking brake fluid, or the halfshaft seal which is in the centre and will be leaking gear oil.
I reckon that as it has leaked while parked then its the halfshaft, brakes tend not to leak when not under pressure unless they are properly fubard, but you would soon feel it in the pedal if they were.
£25 per side from Milners for a rebuild kit but you need some spannering skills to fit.

[BioHazard]

Rear wheel bearings or rear brake clyinders


If it's the clyinder you will find the caps of the clyinder full of oil

If it is the halfshaft seal it probably means the rear brearing has gone OR the diff has become pressurised (check the breather )


If it helps Paul i have halfshafts with new bearings on in the garrage , I'll need to check them though

[biosurf]

Thanks for the responses guys.

HAvent been able to get the plug on the diff out yet as the largest socket I have is 22mm - going to go and but a 24mm today.
Taken breather off and that all seems clear.
Oil thats leaking smells exactly the same as the breather so it is diff oil thats leaking which I guess means its the half shaft seal.

Booked it in to the only mech I really trust which is a two week wait which is OK as I'm not planning on using it much until then. Hopefully they may have a cancelation before then, but if not, its not the end of the world.

Presuming its best not to drive as even if I top up the diff oil, the brake is still going to have oil on it.

How likely is it to be just the seal needing to be rebuilt and how likely is it that the bearing has gone? Don't really want to get a bearing if I don't need to?

[BioHazard]

Thanks for the responses guys.

HAvent been able to get the plug on the diff out yet as the largest socket I have is 22mm - going to go and but a 24mm today.
Taken breather off and that all seems clear.
Oil thats leaking smells exactly the same as the breather so it is diff oil thats leaking which I guess means its the half shaft seal.

Booked it in to the only mech I really trust which is a two week wait which is OK as I'm not planning on using it much until then. Hopefully they may have a cancelation before then, but if not, its not the end of the world.

Presuming its best not to drive as even if I top up the diff oil, the brake is still going to have oil on it.

How likely is it to be just the seal needing to be rebuilt and how likely is it that the bearing has gone? Don't really want to get a bearing if I don't need to?

You wont know untill it's apart . the brake clynder will be obivious , the wheel bearing is normally the cause of the seal going , the condition of the diff oil will tell you alot

[biosurf]

Just an update. Got the diff plug out and topped it up with about 500ml of diff oil on Saturday.

Haven't driven it since and noticed this morning that its weed out pretty much all of what I put in.

Its booked in to be tinkered with next Friday

Hopefully a seal rebuild will do the trick

You wont know untill it's apart . the brake clynder will be obivious , the wheel bearing is normally the cause of the seal going , the condition of the diff oil will tell you alot

Diff oil is blackish but that may be from the cr@p on the wheel itself. as I said it was changed pretty recently.

[RodLeach]

I'd just go over everything with Silicone sealant! Should do the job!