1925 Buick Standard 6 oil leak at rear wheels

[Stephen Daley]

Hi 

I went out to the shed today and noticed a oil leak at the rear wheel which seem to be coming from the hub cap / little screw in the wheel hub.

is the hubs on a 1925 Buick standard filled with oil and how do I stop this from leaking 

[JFranklin]

Is it grease or gear oil?. there are seals that may need attention.

[Stephen Daley]

It’s hard to say it smells like grease but is very thin like oil and the car hasn’t moved in over a week and it’s just started leaking.

Just thinking it mite just grease as the temperature is quite hot here throughout the day.

so there is meant to be grease in the hubs like most other vintage cars 

[JFranklin]

The wheel bearing grease needs to stay mostly in the bearings. If the differential is too full or not vented it will migrate to the wheels. The hub cap should not be full of grease.

[Stephen Daley]

Thanks JFranklin  for the advice,I will investigate more when I get home from work 

cheers 👍🏻

[Oldtech]

There are felt seals between the bearing and the rest of the axle. If these are old they will be dead. Also there IS an oil drain on the inside bottom to keep oil off the brakes. this could be plugged. 

[Mark Shaw]

Most probable cause is rear end lube is too light (should be SAE 250 or 600wt). 

Second most probable cause is rear end is too full.

Third  "             "         "       "     is plugged drain tube on the inside of the brake backing plate.

 

 

[hidden_hunter]

Our 26 also leaked on from the rear hubs until we went through and redid all the grease and lube - from memory there is also a screw that it will weep from 

 

I'm not entirely sure why Buick didn't go with the same approach as Cadillac and use a 3:1 ratio of 600WT to Grease 

[Mark Shaw]

3 hours ago, hidden_hunter said:

I'm not entirely sure why Buick didn't go with the same approach as Cadillac and use a 3:1 ratio of 600WT to Grease 

In 1925, Buick did use the 600wt equivalent lube oil in the rear end.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[hidden_hunter]

1 hour ago, Mark Shaw said:

In 1925, Buick did use the 600wt equivalent lube oil in the rear end.  

and it's loads of fun filling it... hands get a good work out squeezing it out of the bottle!