MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
In the process of replacing my shocks, noticed the rear drums were oily. Suspecting the brake cylinders were leaking, I pulled the hubs to find they (the brake cylinders) were dry. Instead it looks like the axle seals are leaking. What kind of a job am I looking at in order to fix?
And by the way, missing the knock-off wrench and whacking oneself on the knee does not make for a happy afternoon (drinking was NOT involved)
Its just some axle seals. Gotta pull the chunk, and pull the axles. should take more than an hour and a half with a slide hammer. 2 hours with chains or rope.
Piece of cake! Remove the hubs, pull out old seal, install new.
No need to remove anything else.
RS
Well, alittle more to it, but you don't have to pull axles, you got to get the brakes and backing plate out of the way, the bolts that retain the backing plate to the axle housing also retains the the seal housing, which is directly behind the backing plate, so the brakes and backing plate have to be removed to access the seal housing, a couple taps with a dead blow hammer to get seal housing rotating and loosening up to come off, R&R the seal, put it back together. Depending on how quick you work, fiquire 30-45 minutes per side.
I just did my '76. All I did was remove the drum, remove the hub (after finding the right size socket for that damn nut), remove the seal, clean, install new seal and put the hub back on. Unless your '76 is different from mine, that's all you should have to do, 15 min. per side. Oh yea, put lub in pumpkin when done, probably down some.
I can see that the bean man is speaking with his usual experience (none). Follow Haps advice. The toughest part is getting the nut off the axle. An impact wrench is really important with this one. BMC used a special tool to keep things from turning when retorqueing the nut. You can make this out of a piece of angle iron, and use the foor to jam it. If you do not have a big torque wrench, mark the nut and housing with a scrib, and crank it back to there plus another 1/4 turn. (german torque wrench). The torque is 150 lbs.
good luck
Thanks guys. A couple of follow-up questions:
1. Wire wheels on the car. Does that make any difference in the process?
2. Guess I'm not the gear-head I thought. What's a "pumpkin" ... uh.. Yeah, I know what a "PUMPKIN" is but what's a pumpkin?
Oh yeah. Wouldn't this also be the time to replace the thrust washers in the rear end?
When I did my '74 roadster axles, I did it just like Kwinzee...With no experience on them, it took about 20 minutes per side....
1, No, The pieces just look different
2. differential
3. No. Replacing seals is quick and easy. Almost takes longer to jack the car up. Getting into the diff itself is a considerably bigger job. Almost like the difference between changing a head and changing the engine. <G>
The pumpkin is the housing for the diff and is where you'll find the thrust washers that you identify as being in the rear end.
Chuck as noted above, easy job, nothing to do with pumkin.
Try to loosen the axle nuts with the wheels on the ground, may need a cheater pipe, unless you have an air impact wrench.
You may have to get a loaner gear puller at Autozone, etc, if the hub won't part from the axle. A deadblow hammer can help.
I bought the BFW for this job. The size is 1 5/16. Sears was the only place to find it. Suitable for intruders and burglers also.
The nut on my 76 is definitely 34mm which equates to 1-3/8" FWIW
Hmmmm...When I did my '74 roadster, I'm sure it was 1 5/16, which I bought when working on the engine...I don't own a 1 3/8....I wonder if there were different sizes for different year axles?
Could be Edward. I was just in the garage when I last posted and checked the one that I had to buy in order to do the job, 34mm.
Ron;
See the pic of my BFW. Unless craftsman stamped it wrong it is 1 5/16. You Canuckienns with your forced metrification. I know it was forced upon you all by the Pink Emperor El Duche Trudeau, so you are forgiven.
Hang onto the 1 5/16ths, I just bought a socket that size from NAPA to remove the crankshaft pully. Only place I could find it in this burg, and it cost $13.95.
Thought about returning it, but I would be embarassed. I don't play poker well either.
Can you provide any help/info for a 1964 (titled as a 65)? I also now have a leaky rear axle seal. I am assuming I should go ahead and replace both at the same time.
I just replaced the seals on my '73. Auto Zone rents metric sockets (actually there is no charge just a deposit). I used a 34MM and a 5 foot piece of 1 1/2 galvanized pipe for leverage. I think the front of the car came off the ground a little when I leaned on it, but the nuts broke loose when I put my 200+# body weight on the pipe :-). Lube up the new seals in ATF for a few minutes before inserting with a block of wood and hammer.
Voila!
