Rear axle bearing & Seal
 

Hi, had a slight leak on the back axle, not sure if the bearing or the seal is bad, anyway you can tell if its the bearing, i have the axle out, seems to spin ok , no noise , trying to move the bearing back and forth, looks like its pretty solid , when pushing back and forth looks like the grease on the bearing is moving some.

Pics show the bearing, only a few marks on it, was thinking of just replacing the seal and see if that fixes the problem, then put the wheel back on and see if i can move it up or down or sideways............any thoughts on this. I did buy a new seal.

Thanks

Rich

Most likely the seal, BUT if the oil has gone thru the bearing and washed the grease out, I would change the bearing as well.
Also make sure the diff vent is clear. Was oil on the brake shoes? or just wearing down the backing plate?

I believe the seal is in the bearing.

Thanks for the replys guys, will check for that diff vent, i wonder if i even have one. lol..........no oil on brake shoes at all, just a little on the tire rim, my seal is inboard of the axle tube.

Thanks guys

Rich

Rich, have you replaced the RW507C sealed axle bearing on this axle, or is it an unknown condition axle?

OPH, these bearing were replaced a few years back, got the axles from supercarsunlimited, i have a 66 gto, but i have the olds "O" axle in there, been there for 26 years now, the bearings were the RW 507CR, im sure these are the finest made bearings from china.....lol............just put in the new seal today, 8594S.........took forever to find the vent tube, it wasnt on the axle at all, the only thing i found was this hole on top of the diff, tried cleaning it out, but couldnt poke a wire thru it, so im not sure what i got going here, never knew this was even missing on the car. From looking online seems most of these tubes are plastic, so how does one fit that in.

Thanks again guys, i really appreciate the help

Rich

My 64 vintage axle had a push in plastic vent. Was on right side axle tube.

Be sure to measure the vent hole size in the axle tube, there’s 2 different sizes that are common.

Hey Bart, thanks for the pic, not sure how im gonna measure anything on top of the diff, hard to get your hand up there to see whats going on, seems like most of the pics i see on the net the vent is in the axle tube............just so i have this straight in my head you should be able to put something thru this hole, seems i can only go down about a 1/4 if that, seems like its plugged up somehow.

A small chunk of modeling clay and a cheap HF digital caliper are great for measuring hard to get to spots

I have a 65 diff by shop, will try and look tomorrow and see how deep the hole is.

Thanks alot guys, and before i drive you nuts, i know its a hole but shouldn't i be able to poke something thru it..........on the ones on the axle tube if you look thru that hole, are you seeing inside the axle tube, this hole is on the top of my diff, as i said before i cant even get a thin wire thru it, hate to start going caveman on it and beating some punch thru it, seeing i had this set up for 26 yrs now without ever a leak, hard to believe this is my issue................i"ll keep working on this, thanks again

Rich

That hole on top of the differential is probably a blind tapped hole for attaching the brake line tee fitting. The ‘71 Olds 8.5 10-bolt that I recently installed in my Le Mans has that tapped hole in the top, same for the ‘71 Buick 8.5 in my Tempest.

It may not have been used, maybe your brake line tee is attached to the top bolt of your rear end cover like on the stock 8.2 10-bolt.

The plastic vent goes in the axle tube, look right next to the brake line on top of the passenger side axle tube, it’s there.

This is the location of hole, also with vent remove you can see the axle. So ya goes down long way.

LOL, Bart im gonna find that thing yet, will look alot better today

Rich

Just to end this thread, finally found the hole in the axle tube, cant believe i missed it ............thanks again for the help guys

Rich