FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Hi everyone. About 3000 miles ago I fitted new seals and bearings to the rear axle of my August 57 FE. Right backing plate is now lightly coated with oil and a leak is evident where axle housing passes through the backing plate. Rang Rares and CBC Bearings and got the same story.
FJ and FE models up to chassis # 43428 are one type. FE's after this and all FC are a different seal/part number.

Can anyone confirm please?  ??? My chassis number is 727981S

Cheers, Ken

Completely wrong

Front wheel bearings changed mid FE model at Victorian chassis number 43428M

Rear wheel bearing for FE is N954555 - same for FC
Rear wheel axle seal for FE is 7409877 - same for FC

Ken

Thanks Ken  :) :)

Ken (1),

I've had slow oil leaks into the rear brakes from time to time with my Holdens, where changing the seal didn't cure the leak.
In these cases I had to polish the part of the axle shaft where the seal lip bears.  Under magnification you can usually see some corrosion-related pitting, or maybe scratches.  I put the axle shaft in a lathe, and worked the seal bearing surface up with wet'n'dry, starting with 320 until the pits and scratches were removed, then 600, then 1200, and finally cutting compound.

Rob

oil seals are a problem generally these days ,the original oil seals were made to Holdens spec ..today they are more a mass produced generic seal made to sizing,and modern oils don't like being contained..but modern oils have great advantages too ..where possible go for dual lipped .often used where once a steel coil was used to maintain some even pressure.

Thanks Rob. I will definitely check the shaft for pitting. I replaced my FJ rear seals a while back and the axles were so bad that I had to have them built up by metal spray followed by machining. Should not be required here though. And I agree about the quality of seals these days. Unfortunately this relates to a lot of products, not just seals.  :-[ :-[