Maiden voyage today and now I have some questions

Just finished my 2 year restoration on my '59 (well, not quite finished but roadworthy anyway.) Took it down the road for several miles and have tons of noises and leaks that I need to identify.

Here's the finished product.


Here are my questions...

1. When I let off the gas, I hear a loud groan sound until I push in the clutch and it goes away. I mostly notice this in 3rd gear. Could this be throw out bearing or something worse? The clutch needs adjusted for sure if that matters.

2. Oil leak coming from bell housing. I assume this is rear main seal...? Which stinks because the thought of pulling everything back apart after 2 years of putting it all together is tiresome. It was a rope seal that I used, it was the only thing I could find in the rebuild kits. I even ordered a separate main seal from Felpro and it was a rope.

3. Lots of oil coming from transfer case. I put new seals in the transfer case but never had it apart beyond that. The housing on the front was pretty scraped up so I used some RTV sealant around the outer edge of the seal. Maybe I need a new case.

4. What would cause the emergency brake drum to sling oil all over my freshly painted undercarriage?


5. What would cause the right rear inner wheel to get oil (or grease) splattered on it?


6. Last question. This thing is all stock -- all new reproduction or NOS parts but no modifications. Should it react very squirrely on the road? Going around curves even at 20 MPH, it seems to sway a lot and react harshly to the counter steering. Yes, I realize it is a Jeep and it's 50+ years old so I'm not expecting it to handle like a sports car, but I mean this thing feels like it could get away from me very easily even at very low speeds.

Thanks for helping.

 

I am far from an expert but I'll speak from my experience on the areas I have had issues with:

1. on the xfer case...There are lots of places for it to leak. I rebuilt mine twice and it took me the better part of five years to generally eliminate the leaks. There are several places around the parking brake that could leak 1. the seal at the output shaft, 2. the output shaft splines where they seat on the companion flange 3. the seal around the rear bearing cap and shims and 4. the speedometer driven gear were all culprits in mine.

2. On the oil on the inner rear rim...that would generally be attributable to a bad axle seal - it was on mine and also was a common problem on the military jeeps I maintained for years.

BTW - I have been following your restoration. It makes me want to take mine apart and start over again. Looks great.

 

Looks wonderful.

Throw out bearing (if bad) usually makes noises only when the clutch is being engaged. This sounds more like a transmission issue.

New seals in the transfer case may not work adequately unless the bearing shims are properly adjusted on the output shaft(s). Same source for the e-brake oil.

Rear axle grease seal may be leaking into the brake drum, or perhaps even oil coming through from the differential. (Are you sure it is not brake fluid?)

Squirrelly handling... checked all the spring mounts and shackles, steering links, bellcrank bearings, etcetera? Tie rod ends? Front-end toe-in correct? If so, then search "death wobble" on this site. Worn king pin (knuckle) bearings can be one source.

Love your seat covers! Beautiful jeep.

 

Thanks for the compliments and the help. All the steering components are brand new except for the knuckle housings themselves, which I just cleaned and painted the originals. I need to have it aligned properly, the toe-in is not correct, I just adjusted it the best I could by sight and tape measure but I know it needs done professionally. Surprisingly, though, it drives pretty straight and I don't have the death wobble, just drastic reaction to steering that mostly comes from suspension (at least that's what it feels like.) The springs are reproduction to originals from Kaiser Willys and they are much softer than I expected them to be.

Transmission was not rebuilt. I took it to a transmission shop -- mostly because I embarrassingly let the shaft slip back when I removed the transfer case and I wanted them to reassemble it -- and they said everything looked great and it did not need overhauled. Transfer case is completely untouched except for new shaft seals, pan gaskets, and gear oil. Maybe I need to remove it and go through the whole thing.

The rear axle has new outer seals but I did not do inner seals. I took it to the same machine shop that did my engine machining because I could not get the hubs removed. He did the outer seals and bearings and told me that the inner stuff looked good. Maybe I need to go through it as well. I'm pretty certain it is not brake fluid but I will definitely double check.

I realize these things leak so I'm not panicking or expecting it to be perfect, I sort of expected bugs like this.

Thanks again.

 

beutiful job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all it needs is a little mud

 

Looks like the grease from e-brake may be grease slinging off of the u-joint. Could be the same on the rear wheels. Maybe from over greasing u-joints?

 

X2 exactly what it looks like to me. It's too clean for gear oil to even look like that, it certainly wouldn't be congealed.

 

you can see in the one picture where it slung off the ujoint

 

That's what it looks like to me from picts. Also , your rope seal may well slow down after it swells up some. Congrats on a great job and a beautiful Jeep.

 

still needs mud

 

OK, I have a few answers after a second drive.

The grease on the underside is indeed from the u-joint, as per the advice from everyone. I guess maybe I got a little overzealous with the grease gun. The grease on the back wheel may very well be from the rear u-joint, I hadn't even thought of that! Thanks, I'll check it out.

The groaning I believe is from the exhaust pipe hitting the clutch/brake cross bar and not from the transmission. I bought a pre-bent exhaust pipe and it wasn't bent very well. I'm going to take it to a custom exhaust shop and have them either bend that one properly or make a new one and I hope that will stop that sound. My son revved it up in the garage while I was under it and identified the noise coming from the exhaust pipe rattle.

The other major rattle sounds I heard is from the hood. I may remove the hood and take it for a drive to see for sure.

I can't wait to get it aligned properly to see how much that changes the driving.

 

I agree, looks like UJ grease. Not the right pattern for oil leaks. That would be a Good Thing.

 

It looks just like the other leak and, you'll notice it's on the blue shock in the photo, indicating it came from the center of the vehicle.

 

Stout, thanks for the inspiration! Wonderful project...

 

That is one pretty jeep. You will have it ship-shape soon.

 

your rear main seal might not be the seal it could be oil leaking around the black rubber inserts between the rear bearing carrier and the block. there is a write up on it here somewhere. I have leak in the same spot. But haven't tore into it yet to see what it is. probably on my next oil change I will look into it.

beautiful JEEP indeed!!! well done sir!

 

Your Jeep looks beautiful!
Regarding your question about the handling-did you resolve the wheel bearing issues that you posted on another thread? If you have a loose wheel bearing, all bets are off!

 

I've considered that. The wheels pass the shake test (grabbing at 12 and 6 o'clock positions and shaking) but I am concerned that I could not get the bearings tight enough to bind the wheel. I ended up using the original knuckles because there didn't appear to be anything wrong with them, however once I installed the new tie rods, I had to use washers to get them to tighten down properly. Plus the passenger side front wheel appears to have a lean to it, which research indicates could be the knuckle. Therefore, I decided to replace both knuckles with new ones. So when I replace them, I'll take a second look at everything. While I wait for the knuckles to come in, I will have it aligned anyway just so I can see the difference.

The handling I am experiencing really seems to be in the springs, though. It feels like the springs are just too soft. My first Jeep was a '50 flat fender when I was a teenager and I remember having the opposite impression -- the springs were so tight it felt like I was riding on a buck board. This one, though, will make you sea sick because it sways so much.

 

i wish i had the patience to build one ground up. Yo have done a beutiful job!!!

 

As far as the grease on the underside, the jeeps looked like that out of the factory. The line operators wanted to make sure everything was lubed right! Its' not ruined, its accurate!