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Tips
Tips

BT7 rear axle seal

How clear is your axle breather? If there is any more than a few psi pressure inside the axle then it'll come out of the seals. Driveshaft seal'd be leaking too if that were the case. Maybe you can make an adapter for the breather to apply a few psi from the air compressor to the axle housing and see if a leak forms. No more than 10 psi though.

If you have a camera with Macro mode, wash the seal in brake clean or similar solvent and take a very close-up, clear, well lit pic of the lip and blow it up on the pc screen. A strong magnifying glass would do as well. You should be able to see a sharp lip, if it is replaced with a flat then the seal is not bedding in properly. If the lip is present all the way around then it is unlikely to be leaking. It takes a little time to get used to looking at the lip, compare to a new seal for reference.

Any chance it is oil from earlier on still dribbling down?

Andy.
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the suggestions. My breather is clear; I checked it when I worked on the leak the first time. I wiped things down pretty good from last time, but I suppose there might have been a little oil left up high on the plate. Seems unlikely though...

I'll look carefully at the lip next time and compare it to the new seal. I'm also planning on a thorough inspection of the hub. I assumed the leak was between the seal and the axle housing last time. Time to start checking other possibilities.

I'm getting pretty good at pulling this thing apart. sigh...
 
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