Thread: '93 Defender - Rear hub sudden oil leak!

Hey guys, I'm a newby to the whole world of car mechanics, I just dove in the deep end, bought an old Defender and figured I'd learn as I went. So far so good, but now I'm confused...

I investigated a sudden oil leak from the rear left hub cap, found the wheel also had a bit of a wobble to it. So, I assumed I was looking at a bearing job, and needed to replace any leaking seals as I went. That all went well, except I think my oil leak is from the smaller oil seal around the back of the stub axle, the "intermediate oil seal" or whatever it's called.

However, I've read many stories about how people remove this particular seal AND the outer hub seal (at the bearings) so the bearings are lubed in oil instead of grease. Well, that's fine - but what stops the oil leaking directly out the end of the half-shaft, under the hub cap, where the circlip is?

Oil leaking past the half shaft is a good thing as it lubricates the splines in the drive flange. Without that they get dry and flog out rapidly unless you regularly lubricate them with grease etc.

Apart from sealing up the plastic cap, the other option is to get some heavy duty drive flanges which have a screw on metal cap and are sealed with an o-ring.

Steve