You'll never learn anything if you sit idle. Sitting idle is not something Don and I do a lot of, I think between the two of us we know every nut and bolt that holds an MGB together. If by chance that there is something that we aren't sure of, we read how to and then tackle the job. This little project today is a result of three Members cars haveing a leaky rear axel seal, so why not learn how to fix it and do it ourselves. I am sure this is a $200 job at any garage but for us...... 8.95 for the seal and perhaps a new set of rear brake shoes are needed . This is how today went.

We're lucky enough to have a few spare parts hanging around and one such part is an unused rear-end so why not do a practice teardown of it just encase there is something that may be a problem when we do the seal swap  on the cars. Once again the old rear-end from the barn was brought out to practice on. The last time we seen this was at a tech session earlier this year to explain the purpose of the pinion seal and what to look for if faulty. Today it's the axel seal and thrush washers. The first thing Don and I did was knock out the cotter pin.

 The brake drum was removed and you see that brakes have already been removed because I need the adjuster some time ago, so we moved on to the axel nut. An electric impact wrench made light work of this.

Next to remove the hub. The hub is pressed on pretty tight and Don used his gear puller to extract the hub off the axel. After some strenuous turns of the socket wrench, the puller popped the hub off.

As you can see, this unit is very clean so there is no seal damage here, as a matter of fact, the wheel cylinder on this rear-end must be in great shape as well because there is no brake fluid residue either. Great. Ok, next the four bolts holding the backing plate on. Simple isn't it.

With the bolts off, the brake backing plate comes right off, and in this case, the seal housing comes off as well. Now if this unit was on your car, the emergency brake cable and the hydraulic brake line needs to be disconnected from the wheel cylinder. A simple job but if the line and fitting are rusted and twist when the fitting is turned, then it's time for a new line anyway, so don't hesitate to cut it. A very cheap repair.

Have a look at the axel bearing, a very strong unit and my guess is that if you continue to check and top up the rear-end gear oil, this bearing will last the life of the car. It's just this simple of a set up.

It's easy to suspect a seal but the seal/collar that the seal rests on could be the culprit due to wear of perhaps corrosion. This sleeve was removed and inspected and although there was a little corrosion were the seal makes contact, the sleeve/collar appears to be in perfect shape. So on our test rear-end, all is well with the axel seal. Later on in this story you'll see what this area looks like when the axel seal has failed.

Once again you can see how the seal and the sleeve/collar work together to stop any leaks through the axel and a closer look at the sleeve/collar after it was cleaned up showing a perfect surface for the seal to rest on. 

Lets go a little further shall we, just encase one day we have to do a bearing repair on someone's car. Nothing wrong with a little practice. We decided to pull the axel. It was a simple processes once again. The axel nut was screwed back on the axel reversed so not to burr the smooth edge of the nut when hit with the wrench. An adjustable was opened enough to fit over the axel and smacked with a hammer. After a few smacks, the bearing popped out of the rear-end housing.

I put the axel in the press and with little effort the bearing was off the axel. If we were to replace this, the new bearing would press easily back on the axel. It's just that simple. We're not finished learning from this old rear-end just yet. My BRG B has a little to much play in the rear-end gears, the thrush washers must be toast, so I bought replacements but have yet had the time to replace them. With this rear-end teardown, it's a good chance for a trial run just to see how simple this is.

Now, to have a garage to swap the thrust washers out could be a tad expensive as it could be time consuming, as for the parts.... about $30. Here is how it's done. Drain the rear-end oil and remove the cover. Locate the split pin and tap it out with a punch.

Once the split pin is removed, push out the pinion pin. Simple!

Rotate the axel and remove the planetary gears. Once they are out you can see the brass thrush washers, These are basically a brass washer in a cup form that the planetary gears rest in. Over time and perhaps due to vehicular abuse, these become worn causing play in the rear-end. This is noticeable when backing off the accelerator when driving and feeling a slight delay between the connection between the transmission and rear-end.  

Once again, lets go a little further by tightening up the rear-end by replacing the fibre shims on the axel gears or differential wheels as they are called. A simple and light pry with a screwdriver will pop the wheel out. The axel will have to be removed for this.

In the first picture you can see where the differential wheel sits and you can see where the axel comes through the ring gear assembly. the second picture shows the fibre shim and deferential wheel. These fibre shims are in amazing shape on this rear-end and I think that this is off a very low mileage car. Now to put it back together. replace the fibre shims and thrush washers. The only trick is, when reinstalling the planetary gears, the deferential gears has to be rotated so the so that the planetary gears can be place 180 degs from each other, then push in the pinion pin and the split pin. Using a new gasket replace the cover and then insert the axel, using a new axel seal, finish up the axel assembly and torque the axel nut to 150 lbs. New cotter pin and say good night, or as the British would say... Bobs your uncle.    

Ok! the test run is done and what do you know, one of the three cars that needs and axel seal replacement is Paula's. Without taking off the wheel to see that the seal is leaking, you can tell by the amount of heavy oil (gear oil) on the rims. Anyway here we go again, this time, very confident that I know what I am doing. First, pull the cotter pin and then the mounting screws that holds the brake drum on. Now you see the mess that a failed axel seal will do, what a freaking mess. Not only is a new seal required but a new set of brake shoes are needed as these are soaked in gear oil. What a mess!

Just look at the back side of the new mini light wheel, full of crud. Look at the inside of the brake drum, crud and gear oil. I am sure that this would certainly be an issue in an emergency braking situation. It was around this point that Peter Smith arrived to help out. Peter took the camera as Don and I continued with the tear down.

The axel bolt was a bugger on Paula's car, believe it or not, the nut had to be heated to relax it's grip. Once it did, the rest of the repair was simple. Don put every piece in the parts washer and cleaned them thoroughly and everything slipped into place, including the new seal in it's housing. Everything was buttoned up and Don and I took the car to the restaurant for a test run. No gear oil on the rim yet but I'll pull the wheel and check it after a few more klm are driven.

My Green B requires the thrush washer replacement and it's a long winter, so one day when the wind is blowing and the snow is falling and I miss spending time with my babies in the garage, I'll jack up the old B and crawl under with a smile on my face and fix what needs fixing, so next summer will "B" trouble free.

There you go another repair completed. If I can do it anyone can, so grab a wrench and fix your car. Every summer drive you miss due to a breakdown, is a BCCCB adventure that you'll be sorry you missed. So read a book, spin a wrench and give us a call if you get jammed up. This is what being a member of a great little club is all about.