V50 Rear Drive Oil Seal

[Scout63]

I finally got tired enough of oil dripping onto the rear wheel to remove and disassemble my v50 rear drive.  What a pain.  It has to be completely dismantled to get to the wheel side large oil seal. I ordered a few gaskets and the seal from MG Cycle and I’ll be back wailing around town this week.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Yep, a lot more work than an older "big-block" rear drive.

[Scout63]

Absolutely Charlie. On my G5 I just popped out the seal from the outside, cleaned up the housing and installed a new one.  I thought this would be the same. I couldn’t get a socket on the bolts holding the whole shebang together without pulling the bearing inner race.   Maybe I could have with an open end wrench, but it looked iffy.  Three hours and a bearing puller later it was all apart. At least it gave me a chance to clean everything up nicely.

[Off @ 90]

When you push the new seal in be careful not to go any deeper than flush with the casing. I made the mistake pushing too far and the seal can touch the ball race with resultant leak . There is no shoulder to stop it . Also polish the  lip seal contact area on the shaft .
Hope all goes well .

[Scout63]

Thanks for the tips Duncan. They will help.  Ben

[Chuck in Indiana]

Absolutely Charlie. On my G5 I just popped out the seal from the outside, cleaned up the housing and installed a new one.  I thought this would be the same. I couldn’t get a socket on the bolts holding the whole shebang together without pulling the bearing inner race.   Maybe I could have with an open end wrench, but it looked iffy.  Three hours and a bearing puller later it was all apart. At least it gave me a chance to clean everything up nicely.

Now, the inner seal will start leaking.  You thought the outer seal was hard to get to..

[Scout63]

Should I just replace the inner seal now Chuck?  It’s right there.  I’ve got to go order it now...

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I would replace it while you have it apart. Warm the housing and the outer race of the bearing will fall out, allowing access to the seal.

[Pescatore]

Hey Scout63, do you have pictures of the disassembly steps?
The workshop manual shows at least 5 different custom tools.  Seems like you used a bearing puller and some sockets?

[Scout63]

Hey Pescatore:

I didn’t take any photos.  It comes apart pretty easily.  The only pain is that to get a socket on the bolts holding the drive assembly together you need to pull the bearing inner race.  I put a 13mm open end wrench on them but the purchase wasn’t good.  It needed a socket on an impact driver. There is a circlip around the shaft that I didn’t see at first.  A standard bearing puller of the clamshell type will pull the race:

https://www.harborfreight.com/bearing-separator-and-puller-set-62593.html.

Thanks for the tip Charlie. I’m hoping the outer race drops out with heat. I’d rather not have to stick a blind bearing puller in there.

Ben

[Chuck in Indiana]

While you are at it.. have a look at the shaft the inner seal rides on. Polish if necessary and don't use synthetic lube.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

While you are at it.. have a look at the shaft the inner seal rides on. Polish if necessary and don't use synthetic lube.

With fresh seals, using synthetic gear oil shouldn't cause any issues. I've always filled customer small-block rear drives with Bel-Ray Gear Saver Synthetic 85w140 and none have reported having any issues. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^ the synthetic lube thing came from Sean Fader. He told me not to use it on the old small block rear drives, so I don't.