MTFCA Forum

I purchased an "extensively restored" T last fall. It's been driving me crazy ever since. What was done / replaced? What wasn't? I've come across several short cuts. Anyway, the outer bearings seem to be leaking quite a bit. first off it's a '14 and the rear end was filled to the plug opening, so I removed some of the oil and hope it isn't filling up coming from the engine. I wondered if there were axle seals put on the inboard side of the bearing. I pulled them and noticed there were what seems to be noeprene seals, but don't have the slight bell shape like the ones listed in the catalog. They seem to be a flat disk encased in metal with a small lip where nit meets the axle. I seem to remember a redesign of these seals somewhere in the past. was their an issue with this design? should I replace them? These probably only have 100 miles on them. Also, I don't know if they were put in using a littlt Permatex. How do you (can you?) remove them without damaging them?

If I am reading your post correctly the metal seals you have sealed around the axle shaft but not around the outer diameter where it meets the steel rivet ring. As the axle wore and moved off center the rubber lip also started to leak. The seals pictured in your post were an improvement designed to seal around the axle and at the rivet ring. I put those in two rear ends, seem to be working.

Working backwards.
Glue it in with ultra black silicone after an exhaustive cleaning with brake clean.

Remove the seals with a long 90 degree end scribe. A General straight & bent hand scribe. 2 pieces of .090 welding rod with short 90 degree bent ends @ 180 degrees apart works for the tight ones. A little WD-40 to lube the rubber.
You may not be able to save them. Worth a try, but thy fit real tight on the axle.

Would be interesting to know if they are still intact. The seals you show fit too tight on the axle & tend to shred themselves. I put them in a lathe on a stub axle & cut off that 3/8" band , cutting down the center of the bead. Check that the washer is fully bonded to the seal.
I did recently find some of those seals with a much shorter band, about 1/8" as opposed to 3/8" They might survive without modification. Havent tried to use them yet.

The lube level is a good 1 1/2" below the fill hole. I can just touch some lube on the tip of my pinky @ 90 degrees.

Plug in the driven plate missing? If not there fills up rear end. See Service Bulletin.

They cost less than $20. For piece of mind just pull the ones in there and throw them away. Then put a new set in the correct way and you will not have to worry about them again. I would also remove all the oil in the differential and put in new oil. Then you can watch it to see if it is being diluted from oil running down the drive shaft. Maybe put some dye in the motor oil that shows up with a black light. They now make flashlights that have black light bulbs and they are not $$. Have fun with your car.

On removing the old seals if you are not saving them, I read here one time to use 2 gutter screw run thru the metal of the seal , spaced about 180 degrees apart, and use them as pullers.

Dennis_Brown wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2024 10:17 pm

On removing the old seals if you are not saving them, I read here one time to use 2 gutter screw run thru the metal of the seal , spaced about 180 degrees apart, and use them as pullers.

That won't work with these seals. Too deep and you can't reach them. That technique works with modern lip seals with a metal insert that are at the surface.