The "vent" or breather hole should be on the rear vertical face of the right
axle tube about half way between the point where the tube goes into the
center casting and where the inner U bolt goes over the tube. In my
experience, the vent holes for the axle bearing grease should be on the
front face of the bearing casting at the end of the axle tube, the grease
fitting is on the rear face. There should be no hole in the bottom of the
casting. I wonder if the tubes have been rotated from their correct
position and then welded?
There are two types of seals that have been supplied to go into the axle
tube to seal the gear oil from leaking into the area of the bearing. They
both, unfortunately, have the same part number. The first is a flat steel
ringlike housing that has a leather ring in its center that is supposed to
seal on the axle. This seal has no spring to push the sealing lip against
the axle and relies on the pressure of the leather ring only. These are ok
on a street car that is no cornered hard. They are no good for any kind or
competition or hard cornering. The second type of seal is a real "lip seal"
with a housing around 7 or 8 mm wide and has a spring that is on the inside
of this housing that pulls the "lip" of the seal into contact with the axle
shaft. These are very good seals and work well if the seal surface is
smooth as it should be and the seal is properly installed.
We only supply and use the second type.
For serious race use it may be necessary to install "baffles" inside the
differential at the outside of each carrier bearing to prevent to much oil
being thrown to the outer ends of the axle tubes. If this does occur, the
differential is likely to run dry and damage itself.
Regards, Greg Solow
----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Roettjer <Phil.Roettjer@quantum.com>
To: <morgans@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 7:27 AM
Subject: RE: Leaking rear end
> Group,
> After I sent out the inquiry yesterday I received a few replies, but I
also
> got to thinking why a new seal would start to leak. The rear only oozes
> grease from the hole beneath the outer bearing after some extended period
of
> highway driving and that grease appears to be thinned by the rear-end oil.
> The one thing that is troubling me is that I cannot find a breather hole
on
> the 3HA rear end. On the 7HA that was originally in the car there were two
> breather holes on the outer tubes. I can find no such holes on the 3HA nor
> can I find anything that resembles a breather on the main casing. The only
> holes are at the extreme outer ends and they are the ones directly below
the
> outer bearings and the grease fittings on the top side.
>
> Can anyone give me a clue as to where to look for a breather hole on a 3HA
> rear end since my suspicion is that the problem I am experiencing is due
to
> pressure building up in the rear end during these extended running
periods?
> My plan right now if I cannot find a proper breather is to remove the rear
> cover and drill a small hole in its top side.
>
> All comments welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Phil Roettjer
> 67 +4
> 67 MGB
>
>
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