Series 3 Rear differential oil seal

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
There are some locations where I would now pay a premium for a higher grade oil seal, notabley the rear hubs, I began fitting a leather one, then a standard spec one, and now I have the £3 more green ones and its does seem better. My diff shaft seals and BP and doing fine but if they do weep a bit its not a huge issue, if the hub seals weep a bit its oily brakes and pulling to one side.
 
rob1miles said:
There are some locations where I would now pay a premium for a higher grade oil seal, notabley the rear hubs, I began fitting a leather one, then a standard spec one, and now I have the £3 more green ones and its does seem better. My diff shaft seals and BP and doing fine but if they do weep a bit its not a huge issue, if the hub seals weep a bit its oily brakes and pulling to one side.
Click to expand...
Better seals would be available, you just need OD, ID and thickness.
We just fitted a "modern" rear pinion shaft seal to my mates Series1 by skimming the flange sealing diameter we were able to fit a metric size seal, working fine now.
He got tired of the continual failure of the original hide seals, but part of the issue was the damage to the sealing surface of the pinion flange, there are engineering solutions to stop english vehicles pi5sing out all their oil, but it's a long row to hoe.
 
Just had a look at mine. Popped the flange off and there is a steel disc holding what looks like a leather seal behind it.

I quickly put the flange back on. Don’t like the look of that. Specially as the replacement one I have is a rubber thing with a spring round one end.
:eek:
 
It looked oribly like the thing needed thrashing out from behind :eek:

I will need another flange before an attempt to replace the seal. It’s a bit pitted.
 
Bobsticle said:
On another note. How do you remove the prop shaft from the brake drum. Dis the drum have to come off.
I couldn’t even get at the bits with mi little tool.
Click to expand...
9/16s spanner or the socket tool which fits if you turn yoke to suitable position, so allways jack a wheel of the ground so you can rotate it,drum doesnt need to come off
 
jamesmartin said:
9/16s spanner or the socket tool which fits if you turn yoke to suitable position, so allways jack a wheel of the ground so you can rotate it,drum doesnt need to come off
Click to expand...
Couldn’t get the damn thing in, but I didn’t go mad knowing I was leaving the old one on until the new drive flange arrives.
I’m sure it will go in once attacked with some hotspur.
 
Should this one be suitable? I see that jamesmartin said in an earlier post that part number would be. To me this loks like it would be the preferable one as it doesn't have the raised lip.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OIL-SEAL...w=frc8220g&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313

As for removing the prop shaft nuts by the hand brake drum, after struggling with it once, I re fitted it with longer nuts. This looks like it will make it much easier to remove.

My plan for doing the seal is to only unbolt the propshaft at the differential end and tie it up out of the way with strapping.
 
Webley1991 said:
Should this one be suitable? I see that jamesmartin said in an earlier post that part number would be. To me this loks like it would be the preferable one as it doesn't have the raised lip.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OIL-SEAL-DIFF-AXLE-PINION-LAND-ROVER-DISCO-FRC8220G-VITON-L/263021328530?hash=item3d3d4af892:g:wSgAAOSwl9RaAJGf&_sacat=0&_nkw=frc8220g&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313

As for removing the prop shaft nuts by the hand brake drum, after struggling with it once, I re fitted it with longer nuts. This looks like it will make it much easier to remove.

My plan for doing the seal is to only unbolt the propshaft at the differential end and tie it up out of the way with strapping.
Click to expand...
that seal will do its a later one i use
 
Now that the weather has cooled down, I tried to make a start on this job last Saturday. This was only to find that I was unable to undo the drive flange nut. This was with the rear wheels chocked with wooden blocks.

I will try again tomorrow with a crankshaft locking tool I made for another vehicle. This tool is two pieces of steel strip joined together by a bolt in a y shape with two holes at the ends. This woll the be bolted to the drive flange bolt holes. I am hoping I can lock this against the stack of leaf springs just forward of the rear axle.

The Land Rover repair manual says to put a smear of jointing compound around the outside diameter of the seal. I have never heard of this being done with an oil seal before. Is it really necessary?
 
Webley1991 said:
Now that the weather has cooled down, I tried to make a start on this job last Saturday. This was only to find that I was unable to undo the drive flange nut. This was with the rear wheels chocked with wooden blocks.

I will try again tomorrow with a crankshaft locking tool I made for another vehicle. This tool is two pieces of steel strip joined together by a bolt in a y shape with two holes at the ends. This woll the be bolted to the drive flange bolt holes. I am hoping I can lock this against the stack of leaf springs just forward of the rear axle.

The Land Rover repair manual says to put a smear of jointing compound around the outside diameter of the seal. I have never heard of this being done with an oil seal before. Is it really necessary?
Click to expand...
odd it is a rover type diff with castellated nut i presume
 
If you're going to all this trouble replace the drive flange as was mentioned early doors. I did mine only to have it still spraying everywhere cos the drive flange is worn down- strange that its only 45 years old....;)
 
I managed to undo the nut with the locking tool that I described. I see that the Land Rover official repair manual shows a similar tool for disassembly of the diff. I ended up lying on my side, holding the leaf spring and pushing on the 14" breaker bar with my foot. With the position of the leaf spring, it is difficult to get a good angle to turn the nut by hand.

I levered the old seal out with a large flat blade screwdriver wrapped in duct tape.

While the flange was off I checked the conditiong of the bearing. The bearing rollers looked a slightly dull, but there were no signs of excessive wear or scoring. There was no sign of lateral movement which says that the bearings are not excessively worn.

Unfortunately the better quality seal went in at an off angle when I tried to knock it in using a 46mm socket. There was no way to remove it without damaging it, so I ended up using the Britpart one after all.

Luckily the drive flage sealing surface was in good condition once I had polished it up with fine emery cloth, so I refitted it.

As a warning to anyone else attempting this job, the mud shield is push fitted onto the drive flange. I didn't have any tools with me to attempt to remove it without risk of bending it. The manual doesn't say anything about this as far as I could see.

Now I just have to re-connect the prop shaft and see if the leak has actually stopped.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Timing cover oil seal replacement
Replies
2
Views
232
sprie
S
S
Removing oil seal on engine front cover
Replies
2
Views
315
steve2286w
steve2286w
CakeBandit
Series 2 Broke my rear differential
2
Replies
34
Views
3K
CakeBandit
CakeBandit
J
Classic Rover Diff Pinion Seal Depth and Flange Issues
Replies
7
Views
369
Jim_P
J
S
glazing seal for windscreen
Replies
10
Views
879
sprie
S
Back
Top