Source of rust on front drive shafts

Hey, good evening!

I would like to hear your opinion on my front shafts. When I changed my drive flanges today on my 110 TD5, I noticed a rusty colour in the grease between shaft and flange.

When I removed the two washers behind the locking ring, I noticed that they too were quite rusty. Apart from that the components seemed to be rust-free.

Is it possible that the two washers are responsible for the rusty colour? Or is it more likely that it's coming from inside the hub because of a failed seal or something like that? (Don't have the tools, new nut etc. here to open the hub AND I've never done that before, otherwise I might have checked)

its very common as there no lube at the drive member splines

You'd say it's the splines, not the hub?

Kitai said:

You'd say it's the splines, not the hub?

Click to expand...

drive member splines

I can rule them out. After a wipe-down, they're bare metal.

Kitai said:

I can rule them out. After a wipe-down, they're bare metal.

Click to expand...

Ah, that's because it's all worn off and found its way into the grease. Mine sometimes have an orangey tinge to them, but unless there's evidence of serious water contamination I've never worried. The standard plastic end caps are not completely watertight - you don't even need to go wading, a wet road will do it - plus condensation can be an issue. Doesn't look too bad to my untutored eye.

Kitai said:

I can rule them out. After a wipe-down, they're bare metal.

Click to expand...

nevertheless thats the source,grease the splines when you refit the members

As above.

Mine were the same.

Thanks guys. Put on loads of grease and refit!