Hi everyone, I've found that there's differential gear oil contaminating the brake pads on one side of my D2. I ordered an o-ring from Atlantic British - Item:FTC4919 - which I believe is the right part, corresponding to part 2 in the diagram below. I'm not sure this is what's causing the leak, but I thought I'd check here to see if this is a very common issue and would most likely be the source of the problem. I bought brake pads as well that I'll use to replace the contaminated ones after resolving this issue. There was a time when the vehicle swung a bit on the highway when I needed to brake a bit more urgently than usual. I cleaned things up and that's helped a lot.

I've also planned to refill the differential after draining it as soon as I've done the rest of the work here. I should be able to replace the o-ring without draining the differential though, right? I'm also wondering what gear oil others here would recommend using.

I appreciate any input.

https://www.roverparts.com/Parts/FTC4919

 

I had a period of time where I was having trouble getting that seal to seat properly; ( I had some burrs from cleaning corrosion on the sealed wheel bearing unit which I couldn’t seem to get right the first time. Or the second time) so I had replaced it about 3 or 4 times in a very short time -
so if you haven’t flushed your diff fluid in some time, now is a great opportunity to flush & replace.
That said, once I’m disassembled to the wheel bearing, i can say that I’ve raised the jack to pitch the axle & have virtually no loss of oil while replacing that seal.

I flush my dif fluid more frequently then most would, therefore I just use a Napa brand or valvoline brand synthetic 90/110 weight gear oil

 

Thanks pal, I’ll have to tear things down at some point and get in there. Did you use anything to help seal the o-ring?

 

Put a thin film of oil or vaseline on the o-ring to prevent knicks or tears during installation/assembly.

 

I had same problem. Replaced the o-ring as suggested here but almost ruined my new brake pads as it was a leaky bearing. Unless that ring tears, I don’t see how that fixes anyone’s problem.

 

Ah I see - I'll have to prepare for the same, then, seeing as we have the same exact vehicle. How did you resolve the leaking bearing issue?

 

The O ring is the only barrier back there to leak fluid I believe.
the wheel bearing is a sealed unit. It doesn’t contain fluid to leak - nor is the construction of a sealed bearing able to allow passing of fluid.
I mean- your bearing would have to be so destroyed that it would be obvious that a weeping gasket is not the issue to address..

when you remove the rear wheel bearing to get to gasket- you can confirm this by spinning the bearing. It should be silky smooth. If there is play / then replace the unit.

get a cpl o rings, they’re cheap. You shouldn’t have any problems changing it.

 

Thanks - I only detected leakage on the left side, but it would make sense to reseal both sides or all four when doing a brake pad replacement at this point. I’ll probably deal with draining and refilling the differentials as well.

 

front axle seals are altogether different.
Your rover should provide you with plenty to service - no need to get into anything unnecessarily.

 

I see. I was going on the suggestion to get a couple of o rings - so I'll just deal with the one where I found the contaminated brake pads and maybe do a flush and refill on the rear differential. I think there's a way to check the fluid level, which I'll have to look into. Thanks again!