Black grease in brake drum.

[Lovely Bunny]

My brakes were a bit soft so I went under to give the starwheela a crank and noticed wetness around my left rear drum. Took it off and found a healthy coating of greasy grey stuff all over everything in there.

It's not brake fluid--it's slick like grease and there's no leaking around the cylinder.

I checked the axle vent hose and it's fine. There is no leaking around the differential.

What's my next move? Replace the axle seal? Anything else I should be considering? It's an 88 Econoline 350 with a 7.3.

Thanks yall--happy new year

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It's probably a leaking hub (wheel) seal. Smell it. It will probably smell like 80w/90. Also be ready to replace you brake shoes while you're in there. They will probably have oil on them.

 

[Cubey]

It's probably a leaking hub (wheel) seal. Smell it. It will probably smell like 80w/90. Also be ready to replace you brake shoes while you're in there. They will probably have oil on them.

The inside of my RV's drum when it had a leaking wheel seal. (Dana 70)

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The visual evidence that clued me in to the problem, before it was taken apart:

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The inner rim. (The one with the oil running down the tire above), The entire thing was black from oil/filth before I started cleaning it:

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[Cubey]

Oh and it could be whoever did the brakes last went insane with the grease. I found a huge blob in mine on the side where the wheel seal wasn't leaking. I replaced both seals since I had to do the brake shoes anyway. The seal costs all of $10 for Dana 60/70 (way more for Sterling full floaters, had to do one on my truck) so why not?

 

[Lovely Bunny]

Thanks guys! I'll move forward on a new wheel seal then. And yes, the shoes were pretty oily so I'll go ahead and replace those too.

Cubey that is quite the leak!!! Mine wasn't that gnarly yet. I though it might just be brake grease until I pulled the drum off and saw how much there was. I did the brakes myself about a year ago, and though I am more or less a moron, I know I didn't use that much grease lol

 

[Clb]

Fwiw
There is 2 MAIN reasons this happens,
1 flat worn out wheel bearings, and
2 loose wheel bearing adj.
Damaged on install, and a few others also...

Look at the rollers on the bearing and a race (clean\dry) see pitting, discoloration, or a two tone stripe on the race???
Thats the rockwell hardness talking to ya...

 

[Lovely Bunny]

Thanks Clb!

I'll probably just go ahead and order new bearings and races in case my current ones are worn out. They are pretty inexpensive and because I have to work on the street in front of my house it's really best to plan for contingencies...it sucks to take everything apart and then figure out that you need another part...with street cleaning once a week then you have to figure out a way to get the van moved or you'll get a big ticket.

Does anyone know if I have to get into the pumpkin and pull a c-clip to remove the axle? Chilton's says yes but some online guides I found don't mention it. It's a Dana 80. Obviously I'll find out soon enuf but wondering if I should go ahead and order a new gasket for the pumpkin.

 

[Cubey]

I'll probably just go ahead and order new bearings and races in case my current ones are worn out.

All the wheel bearings (probably originals) on my RV were still fine at 73k miles. I did the rear seals, and drum on one side, as well as front rotors and grease seals. All front and rear wheel bearings got fresh grease, but especially the fronts since they rely solely on grease. Rears on a full floater get a hot oil bath that washes out most of the grease. The rear also got another full differential oil change. It was super nasty when I got it and did a diff oil change in summer 2019. I used a LubeLocker gasket that can be used and reused without RTV. Makes it SUPER easy to change the oil repeatedly without scraping and all that. The higher priced gasket pays for itself vs buying tubes of RTV. The change this time had it all nasty again for the lower half of the oil (where all the thick muck settled to). It's an open diff so I use the cheapest Walmart gear oil, non-synthetic. Seems to do fine. Maybe after a couple more changes to clean it out, I might switch to higher priced synthetic. I see no point in wasting money on it for what amounts to a clean-up job of short OICs on the diff.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Does anyone know if I have to get into the pumpkin and pull a c-clip to remove the axle?

I'm not the most informed on the different axle types, but I'll guess probably not. Especially since you have an E350. The ones that you have the C-clip to mess with are usually lighter duty axles.

 

[Cubey]

Does anyone know if I have to get into the pumpkin and pull a c-clip to remove the axle? It's a Dana 80.

Are you SURE it's a Dana 80? I don't think Ford used them until the mid to late 90s. You probably have a Dana 70. They don't use clips to hold in the axle shafts. I'm pretty sure Dana 80 doesn't use the clips either, by the way. Dana 80's cover can be mistaken for 70 if you don't look close and aren't familiar with them:

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[Lovely Bunny]

hmmm...I was basing mostly off of the similar chart here: https://bit.ly/3ojDEK1

In these images the cover of the 70 has a raised section around the drain plug, and also a notch in the bump out at the top. My van does not have these things and looks more like the 80 in this chart.

BUT your chart does not show the raised area or the notch in the 70. Also mine seems to be wider than the 80 in either chart. Really based on your chart I would say you're right, it's the 70.

The front of my pumpkin has "80 ISU" embossed on it...dunno what that means

Wikipedia says Ford started using the 80 in 1988, so it's possible

 

[Clb]

Look under hubcap, does the hubcenter have a bunch of bolt heads on it?
Yes full floater.
No semi floater...
Still not sure ? take pic ,post pic.

 

[Cubey]

hmmm...I was basing mostly off of the similar chart here: https://bit.ly/3ojDEK1

In these images the cover of the 70 has a raised section around the drain plug, and also a notch in the bump out at the top. My van does not have these things and looks more like the 80 in this chart.

BUT your chart does not show the raised area or the notch in the 70. Also mine seems to be wider than the 80 in either chart. Really based on your chart I would say you're right, it's the 70.

The front of my pumpkin has "80 ISU" embossed on it...dunno what that means

Wikipedia says Ford started using the 80 in 1988, so it's possible

Here is the Dana 70 on my 85 E350:

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Check your door jamb tag's axle code. 52 (and others) is Dana 70:

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A list of Ford axle codes: https://www.blueovaltrucks.com/tech-articles/identify-your-ford-truck-axle-from-the-door-sticker/

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Wikipedia says Ford started using the 80 in 1988, so it's possible

To muddy the water a little bit more here, it's also possible that someone swapped in a Dana 80 from a newer vehicle.

 

[Cubey]

Oh, and if it's not a dually (your profile pic looks SRW) it's probably Dana 60. Forgot that part. Dana 70 is basically just a dually Dana 60. (Same exact gasket). Dana 80 is an updated 70 (more or less, I think). Ford used Dana 60s into the 90s, as I recall.