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MG MGB Technical - axle shaft leaking bad,

My 78 b has a bad axle shaft seal. It's allready eaten my brak,e shoes up. But what I want to know is, what about the collar before the seal. How do I know if the collar is bad? It's a 30 dollar item. Can someone help me on this one? As it is, I've got to pay 80 dollars for the brakes and hardware. thanks
Phil Chamberlain

Phil. There have been many times in my life when a few extra dollars have been a problem. But, I have always used the "What is my life worth" criterium when deciding where the money is to go. I suggest that you do the same. Anyone interested in an MGB is worth keeping around for breeding stock. As to the collar. For the most part, they do not go bad. When they do, you will see some form of deformation, such as a raised lip which can cut a seal. (I am assuming that you mean number 44 in the factory workshop manual when you refer to the collar.) I would not worry about it as I have found that the seals go bad, but have never before seen a bad collar. (This indicates a lack of personal experience, not that they cannot go bad. But, it is 34 years of experience.) So, my best guess is that the seals have gone bad, the collar is good and you need to replace the seals. But, after the seal replacement, I would keep an eye on the level of 90 weight gear oil in the rear end and pull the brake drums after a few weeks of driving to make sure that there were no recurring leaks. All you should need to replace are the brake shoes. The wheel cylinders should be good unless you are seeing a drop in the master cylinder reservoir level and the other hardware need not be replaced unless is is showing signs of aging. (Springs bent or not having much pressure when you go to remove/install them.) I just had to do this when my 68GT blew a rear wheel cylinder and it did not cost $80 to do so, even with a new wheel cylinder. (The Moss "aftermarket" cylinder having a 7mm bleed nipple, from Italy.) Les
Les Bengtson

Phil,
I am having a similar problem on LHS rear oil seal. was repaired, then again replaced under warrenty but seems to have just gone again. The problem at the last fix was identified as a leak from the inner lip, ie lip against the axle shaft - not from the outer edge. If your problem is similar you might be interested in the following.
Club members here are familiar with this problem. Two solutions are recommended. One is fitting a sleeve to the axle shaft to overcome any riughness there that is dereciating the seal lip. Sleeve should be lubricated for insert with something that will provide a seal in operation. Recommendation was for Stag mixed with metho. Second solution was for a double-spring seal, to apply extra seal presure against the axle surface.
Most favour the sleeve solution as leaving any surface imperfection on the axle will probably destroy the double-spring seal lip as well.
Good luck and regards, Roger
Roger

Roger - the collar that Phil and Les refer to slips over the axle shaft and is what the seal runs on. So if there is a problem with leakage and it is not the seal itself, replacement of the collar would be the next step, not adding a sleeve to the collar.
Paul Hunt

Paul,
Thanks for that advice,it has enabled me to understand the axle component diagram in the service handbook. Not having gone into the axle seal area, and relying on what I was told, I had a somewhat different interpretation of the relationship among the parts. I'll take up the subject of the collar with my advisors.
Regards
Roger
Roger

Is it possible that the seal has worn a groove in the axle shaft? This can happen, and it will destroy a new seal in pretty short order.

Here in the US, there is a company called Chicago Rawhide that makes something called a "Speedi-Sleeve". It is a sleeve of very thin steel that presses over the axle shaft and forms a new surface for the seal to contact. There must be something similar in Australia.
Paul Noble

Phil, also don't ignore the possibility that the breather valve is plugged up. It is located on the top of the tube on the RH side. It is meant as a vent for the normally ocurring pressures that build up in an axle housing. These will become plugged from dirt, etc. but also are frequently undercoated by accident. Much like a plugged PCV valve on an engine, oil will be pumped from seals. BTDT. Cheap and easy clean. Peter C.
Peter Caldwell

Paul - the assembly already has such a replaceable sleeve, it is the 'collar' referred to above.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 16/02/2002 and 20/02/2002

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