Morris Minor Owners Club

As I am looking at the rear of the Moggie,after readjusting the front suspension,I had a check around the rear brake drums today,the offside rear seems fine,I will be taking off the drum this week to put a new stud in and will investigate further then.The nearside Drum,however has traces of oil,or an oily/black liquid seeping from it.Any offers what it could be,I reckon its probably a seal,but which one is the most likely culprit? I assume that means new brake shoes on both sides,or could I just change the contaminated side? Is it possible,or just plain stupid,to try and clean up the contaminated shoe. Would petrol,or panel wipe be OK to clean up the affected drum?

It can be either leaking final drive oil (EP 90 - so check the level) or brake fluid. May as well buy/fit a complete new set of shoes on both sides - and keep the good/oil-free shoes as spares.

Cheers BMC,its definately gear oil,but there could be brake fluid too,its hard to say as its black,smelly and everywhere.It seems confined in the brake drum,no evidence of anything but a tiny drip down the back of the hub,and that looks like overspill from the drum.How far back along the axle will I need to go fitting new seals? Which seals/seals are most likely to have gone? At least the weather is kind at the minute so after taking apart the rear brakes and cleaning off the excess oil from around the place,I'm going to get on with changing the oil in the front dampers, I got 1l of sae.30 from the local tool hire shop,the owner said the next heaviest oil they had was sae.90 so I gave it a miss.

You need to remove the wheels, drums, half shaft, the hub and the bearing from the hub to access the lip seal. There is a paper gasket between the hub and the half shaft and later cars also have a groove in the hub for an additional O-ring.

Regards
Declan

Cheers Declan,that seems quite a lot of work to change a paper gasket!! My moggie is a 65,I've got no history but I am working on the assumption that an O ring and gasket can't be too expensive so I'll order both,as well as a new set of rear shoes as the ones on the side with the leak are fit for nothing,can I tell if the bearing needs renewing before I strip back,or do I have to do that first? I'm going to sit in the sunshine for a while with a brew and some BMC manuals before I do anything else so I can try and figure out how to take apart ( AND put back together ) the required bits

Just gone out to find a drip of oil under the other side of the car,so I guess I'm replacing seals and gaskets on both sides. Any tips on draining the diff? How much oil SHOULD come out? Will a litre of new oil be enough to refill the diff when I've replaced the seas and gaskets? I live quite a ways from a town so doing 1 trip to Halfrauds will be enough,what other supplies should I lay in? I plan on getting the shoes,gaskets and seals from an online specialist,but would a plug removal tool be a good idea?

You can see if there is any play in the wheel when jacked up. Spin it and see if it is OK and wobble it from side to side. You have to drift the bearing out and if you do have to replace it buy a good one. Take care pressing it back in. Don't press it by the inner race. I bought a new bearing from one of the major Moggy suppliers recently and had to bin it. I'd recommend SKF, Ina or FAG.
One litre of diff oil is sufficient. An 11mm square socket fits the original diff plug. Most of the replacement plugs are for Allen keys.
Regards
Declan

If it smells bad it's almost certainly diff oil, it gets very stinky when old.