Oil from Rear Wheel Bearing!

[smutly]

Looking under the rear of the car the other day I noticed a drip of what appears to be oil on the bottom of the nearside de dion flange. Investigating further, it appears to be coming from the hub area. If I look in to the disc area (inside of the wheel) it appears to be a bit wet. A couple of drips have fallen on to the inside of the wheel rim. What can this be? I guess the Hubs bearings are packed with grease, not oil! and it isn't brake fluid. Any ideas anyone?

 

Help

[stevefoster]

Strange one.

Dampers could leak but not easily get where you describe it.

The bearings don't normally exude any grease etc on the rears. There is a rubber seal face that could be broken. You'd need to pull the hub (200lbft nut, left hand thread on the left side) to check.

If the bearing is getting hot and seal is broken it might leak. But if it definitely oil then I am puzzled.

Is it a lot of oil?

 

I lightly oiled my wheel stud threads and then wondered why there were traces of oil in unusual places till I remebered..

 

My racing pics, 7 DIY, race prep. Updated often here

Photo's of the year here

Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here

 

 

 

Edited by - stevefoster on 6 Jun 2003 14:15:04

[smutly]

Yes, certainly seems strange. . I’ve just had another quick look. It isn’t the damper, and I took the wheel off to check the calliper and it’s not that. The car has been standing since last Sunday and at present there is a small drop of oil on the de dion ear. I’m saying the de dion ear as that’s what I believe it’s called, it’s the raw aluminium plate that the wheel bearing housing is fixed to. Looking further in, the black painted cast wheel bearing housing is wet but not at the extreme end. It appears almost as if the oil is coming from the joint between the aluminium de dion ear and the wheel bearing housing. This has me really puzzled. . I’m sure it is oil as certainly it has the consistency of oil. Also there are several oil stains on the inside of the wheel where it has dripped.

 

Help

[Gridgway]

not sure about the consistency, but the nearside drive shaft has a tendency to leak grease fro0m the outside cv joint. Could that have something to do with it?

 

Graham

[stevefoster]

Is the car new to you?

A previous owner may have sprayed WD40 or similar into the De dion tube as an antirust measure and then bolted it up. There's an ali plate that is a flush fit between the ear and tube end to keep the elements out. Could be dripping from there if there was oil inside the tube.

 

My racing pics, 7 DIY, race prep. Updated often here

Photo's of the year here

Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here

 

[smutly]

Had another good look last night with the wheel off. It looks like it might be coming from the wheel bearing as the bottom half of the housing is wet. If this is the case the "oil" will have run down on to the big ally plate where it drips. The thing that's puzzling me is it certianly looks, behaves and feels like oil. I have cleaned it all off now with white spirit, so I will have to go for a good run and check again. I will check the hup temperature after just in case the oil is melted grease. I though grease would thicken again when cold, but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

Help