Rear Axle Oil Seal

[Ken's 57]

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

[mcl1959]

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

[Ken's 57]

Thanks Ken 

[ardiesse]

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

[my8thholden]

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.

[Ken's 57]

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.