Swivel ball leaks?

Wallydog · 10th August 2011, 09:13 PM

Just saw Ive got a patch of gear oil dripping from the bottom of swivel ball housing onto the garage floor and seeping under the tyre. had a quick look at the swivel ball seal and it looks like its not coming from there. Its a fairly bad leak. I haven';t pulled down a swivel ball setup before so its a learning curve.

theres noticeable play in the up/down movement of the wheel so there may be wheel bearing or more sinister swivel problem?

What other areas on the swivel ball are prone to leaking gear oil. It wasn't leaking oil before because it had no oil in it. Any advice always appreciated. W.

**Mick_Marsh** · 10th August 2011, 09:20 PM

could be the gasket on the hub.
Easy to replace and you can check you wheel bearings while you're at it. I've changed that gasket a few times. If I can do it, anyone can.

Wallydog · 10th August 2011, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

could be the gasket on the hub.
Easy to replace and you can check you wheel bearings while you're at it. I've changed that gasket a few times. If I can do it, anyone can.

Thanks Mick, I know the gasket your talking about, I serviced the rear wheel hubs today, replaced hub seals, washdown and greased up the bearings and a good splodge in the hub. I made new gaskets for the axle / hub flange.

one side, on the rear there was oil leaking onto the outer side of the tyre. There was no gasket fitted there although an attempt was made with blue silicone, it didn't work.

Ive got freewheeling hubs on the front so will attend to those on the way.

**MR LSD** · 10th August 2011, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

could be the gasket on the hub.
Easy to replace and you can check you wheel bearings while you're at it. I've changed that gasket a few times. If I can do it, anyone can.

the land rover recall back in the day was to drop the oil and fill with high temp grease

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 10th August 2011, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by MR LSD

the land rover recall back in the day was to drop the oil and fill with high temp grease

Which resulted in excessive wear on the uni-joint and railko top swivel bush.

Wallydog · 10th August 2011, 10:22 PM

It seems from what ive read over the net that the 'one shot' swivel ball grease is a popular alternative to EP90 oil. From what I understand it is a measured slurry mix of selected grease and oil and some Land Rover spare parts sellers flog it.

Im still not clear whether its a LR approved method or an aftermarket fix for leaky swivel balls.

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 10th August 2011, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by Wallydog

It seems from what ive read over the net that the 'one shot' swivel ball grease is a popular alternative to EP90 oil. From what I understand it is a measured slurry mix of selected grease and oil and some Land Rover spare parts sellers flog it.

Im still not clear whether its a LR approved method or an aftermarket fix for leaky swivel balls.

Penrite used to have their brand of one shot (Semi-Fluid grease) on their list of recommended lubricants for Land Rover. They have subsequently removed it, one can only surmise that either Penrite or Land Rover (or their respective lawyers) decided it was not a good idea.

**Wolfman_TWP** · 11th August 2011, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by Wallydog

It seems from what ive read over the net that the 'one shot' swivel ball grease is a popular alternative to EP90 oil. From what I understand it is a measured slurry mix of selected grease and oil and some Land Rover spare parts sellers flog it.

Im still not clear whether its a LR approved method or an aftermarket fix for leaky swivel balls.

The 'one shot' will still leak. I had redone both my front swivel housings. (New balls on both and seals etc.) But the first one I did, I didn't replace the 'O' ring (Didn't have a new one) from the steering arm. And now it's leaking from there.. The other side I did two things. 1. I replaced the 'O' ring with a new, and 2. I used gasket sealer (Not silicone), between the swivel housing and steering arm and that one isn't leaking.

Wolf

**isuzurover** · 11th August 2011, 12:53 PM

Oil and only oil IMHO if you want the internals to last.

If the swivels are leaking you will see a trail of oil from the swivel seal, down the swivel (outer) housing, which will drip onto the inside of the tyre.

IME leaks are caused by worn swivel pins as often as worn swivel seals.

IMO it is best to remove the internal seals so that the diff, swivels and hubs share the same oil.

**gromit** · 11th August 2011, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Wallydog

It seems from what ive read over the net that the 'one shot' swivel ball grease is a popular alternative to EP90 oil. From what I understand it is a measured slurry mix of selected grease and oil and some Land Rover spare parts sellers flog it.

Im still not clear whether its a LR approved method or an aftermarket fix for leaky swivel balls.

My Defender has LR stickers under the bonnet detailing the change to one-shot grease so I guess it was an 'approved' LR fix.

The oil level was dropped and the sachet of semi-liquid grease added. The mix is still fluid just needs a a much bigger gap before it can drip out

You can get split seals which are much easier to install. Never done it myself but the theory is you put the join at the top with I guess a dob of silicon sealant on it. The slight leak from the split lubricates the swivel ball ?

4-Wheel Drives in Blackburn have the seals (Indian) on special at the moment for $5each but they are out of stock. They also sometimes carry the split seals.

Colin

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