Is my wheel cylinder leaking, or is it a axle seal? Also parking brake question....

NYTOSC · Jan 18, 2010

1996 Ranger XLT supercab 4.0 3.73LSD 5 speed 4x4 245k miles

I was under the truck and noticed some fluid on the passenger tire. I pulled the wheel and the drum and noticed a build up of fluid. It looks like gear oil, and the wheel cylinder looked dry. I also checked the brake fluid and it was fine.

Im 90% sure it is a axle seal, but any suggestions?

P.McKenna · Jan 18, 2010

That's what it looks like to me. I have the same issue with my 87', The wheel cylinder needs to be replaced it looks like. You can grab em for under $30 and arn't that difficult to throw them on, so I have been told.

AgPete139 · Jan 18, 2010

What was your parking brake question?

From the pictures, it would seem that the axle seal is the culprit.

Also, the wheel cylinders are cake to replace, but doing drums (for me) requires patience and a 15 minute break.

TRS How To Replace Axle Seals:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/AxleSeal.html

In my opinion, it's a pain in the ass, but doable.

Good luck.

Pete

AgPete139 · Jan 18, 2010

If the wheel cylinder is completely dry and the hard brake line is secure and not leaking, it will be the seal. Besides, you are not losing brake fluid, right?

If you have the drum on, and you get a helper to press the brake pedal, you should feel the brakes hit the drum.

Also, if both rear tires are lifted off the ground, the helper depresses the brake pedal, and you cannot turn the tire/drum on that side, then it's the axle seal.

Pete

NYTOSC · Jan 18, 2010

My parking brake is also very weak- When launching a boat this becomes a problem. From my understanding they are self adjusting?

The truck needs shoes on the rear, so would this solve the parking brake problem?

AgPete139 · Jan 18, 2010

NYTOSC said:
My parking brake is also very weak- When launching a boat this becomes a problem. From my understanding they are self adjusting?

The truck needs shoes on the rear, so would this solve the parking brake problem?

So it didn't have shoes on before? lol jk

Worn brake shoes could cause the E-brake pedal to "max out." There is a self-adjusting wheel that connects both shoes and the pulley cable at the bottom of the brake setup.

After you put it all back together and have the drum on (i suggest new spring rebuild kit for $7 since you have 255,xxx+ miles), you can finely adjust the wheel with a flathead screwdriver. Take out that oval rubber grommet, and turn it. When the drum just barely scrapes the new shoes, stop. Normal driving will adjust it the rest of the way.

BUT...first do the other steps to double-check that you wheel cylinder works. Replacing these BRAKE wheel cylinders at your high mileage is cheap insurance IMO, but not everyone shares my recommendations or philosophy of changing old worn out SAFETY parts.

*subliminal messages* :icon_thumby:

Pete

adsm08 · Jan 19, 2010

Yeah, defiantly looks like a bad axle seal from here. If its been leaking into the drum long enough that might account for some of your weak parking brake too. At 245K I'd go get me a lining and hardware kit, a pair of cylinders, a pair of drums (if they are original) and a pair of axle seals. The seals shouldn't be more than $5-10 a piece and if you do the other one now while you already have the brakes apart you are already doing half the work anyway, and you don't run the risk of blowing another seal, ruining another set of brake shoes, and worse yet, having to open the diff again to replace the other one since unless it's newer than the bad one, probably won't get much more than another 50K before it goes.

Make sure you pray your brake lines down good with some penetrating oil for a few days unless you want to be replacing brake lines too. And personally, on my cars and on customer's car, I either replace, or at least try to sell the WCs with every drum job. Most drum sets can get 100K plus without needing replaced for wear if they aren't abused, most WCs don't get much more than 100K before they are ready to start leaking.

NYTOSC · Jan 19, 2010

adsm08 said:
Yeah, defiantly looks like a bad axle seal from here. If its been leaking into the drum long enough that might account for some of your weak parking brake too. At 245K I'd go get me a lining and hardware kit, a pair of cylinders, a pair of drums (if they are original) and a pair of axle seals. The seals shouldn't be more than $5-10 a piece and if you do the other one now while you already have the brakes apart you are already doing half the work anyway, and you don't run the risk of blowing another seal, ruining another set of brake shoes, and worse yet, having to open the diff again to replace the other one since unless it's newer than the bad one, probably won't get much more than another 50K before it goes.

Make sure you pray your brake lines down good with some penetrating oil for a few days unless you want to be replacing brake lines too. And personally, on my cars and on customer's car, I either replace, or at least try to sell the WCs with every drum job. Most drum sets can get 100K plus without needing replaced for wear if they aren't abused, most WCs don't get much more than 100K before they are ready to start leaking.

Well I guess this weekend, ill have to do this job. It sucks because I was going to be putting the truck on the market this week.

As for the cause of this, my father who was a ASE master tech for years told me it could have to do with me recently getting it stuck up to the frame in mud, and the breather for the axle possibly getting clogged, building up presure and blowing.

small ranger · Jan 19, 2010

Why would you do wheel cylinders if yours are still good? Your parking brake doesn't work because its covered in oil.

Andres629 · Jan 19, 2010

small ranger said:
Why would you do wheel cylinders if yours are still good? Your parking brake doesn't work because its covered in oil.

/facepalm

If you've already got it all the way apart to do axle seals , do a little preventative maintenance as was mentioned before. It never hurts to replace brake stuff... it's a safety precaution! :icon_thumby:

AgPete139 · Jan 19, 2010

Andres629 said:
/facepalm

lol *high fives*

holyford86 · Jan 27, 2010

one thing to try before you dive into changing the axle seals, pull the vent tube off and see if the nipple on the axle is clogged up with junk. Making sure that it is cleared out could save you the trouble of changing the seals

adsm08 · Jan 28, 2010

small ranger said:
Why would you do wheel cylinders if yours are still good? Your parking brake doesn't work because its covered in oil.

In 90% of vehicles with drum brakes the brake linings wear out before the wheel cylinders fail. In 95% of those cases the wheel cylinder does not out last the new linings. They frequently don't out last the first set by more than a few months. That combined with the fact that an expensive wheel cylinder might run you $10 a piece and a set of equal quality brake shoes will probably run you $50 when the old cylinder ruins your new brakes by pissing fluid all over the place and the safety considerations means that it is just a good idea to replace your cylinders when you do the rear brakes. You car probably has 50-100K miles on it by this point anyway, $20 every 50K isn't that expensive. At my employee pricing it still costs my $12 every 30K for plugs.

Even with 100K mile platinum plugs you can't get that many MPD (Miles per Dollar) out of spark plugs, and those are considered a regular maintenance item.

You don't lose your ability to stop the car safely when a spark plug goes bad.

Is my wheel cylinder leaking, or is it a axle seal? Also parking brake question....

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