Rear fluid leaking out of Driver Side Rear Rotor??

[markedman450]

I just replaced brake shoes for parking break on my 01 explorer sport, and i started noticing alot of the hardware for the ebrake was a lil wet, three weeks later pulled the rotor off again and the new shoes were soaked in fluid. Not losing break fluid or brake pressure...could this be a rear axle seal leaking?? If so how hard is it to replace?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Your real axle seal is toast. You will have to pull the diferential cover off to access the axle c-lips so you can remove the axle.

This will tell you what is involved.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214805

 

[ericautopart]

Remove diff cover, pull clip, slide out axle, remove seal (this would be a good time to do the bearing too) and reverse. Not bad of a job. I've got the bearing/seal kits for $17.60 per side.

 

[markedman450]

What about repair kits. That have new seals and bearings but move the bearing a lil off from what the old one was incase it wore a groove in the axle?

 

[LBarr2002]

What about repair kits. That have new seals and bearings but move the bearing a lil off from what the old one was incase it wore a groove in the axle?

You shouldn't have any problem. My rear axle is out of an '01 sport that had 170,000 miles on it and there was no visible wear on the axle where the bearing rides.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

You shouldn't have any problem. My rear axle is out of an '01 sport that had 170,000 miles on it and there was no visible wear on the axle where the bearing rides.

Mine had arround 215k and know grooves.

 

[Carguy3J]

Don't forget, now that they were exposed to gear oil, those brake shoes are junk. No matter how much you try to clean them, you'll prob never get it out of the friction material. Also check your regular brake pads for contamination as well. Obviously, the "hard" parts such as the rotor and brake shoe hardware should be able to be cleaned w/ brake cleaner.

Also, you might want to do both sides while you have the rear open, and the bearings as someone else suggested. It might also be a good opportunity to upgrade to synthetic gear oil.