Rear Axle Breather

The second subject is oil leaking from the seals on the rear axle, this could be a bad seal, but Wally Hall highlighted the problem in issue 116. He found that even after a changing the seal from the nose of the differential a leak still persisted. The problem was that the differential was pressurising and blowing oil out pass the seal.

After contacting Salisbury (the makers of the unit and still existing then) they revealed that all Interceptors have a pressure relieve valve or equaliser. Its position is as follows: - If the car is on a lift, face the rear of the axle – the spare wheel is above your head. The diff. and the R/H wheel hub are connected by the axle shaft casing.

Place your hand on top of the axle shaft casing, about 4” from the diff. clean the top of the shaft with a wire brush, this will reveal a hole about 1/8^th inch diameter. That is the pressure relieve valve, nothing more than a tiny hole, easily covered with dirt. As soon as this hole was cleared of ‘crud’, Wally had no more leaks. So go out and check yours.

Alan Smith