TJ won't pass inspection

02 TJ

New Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Location
Charlotte
'02 Jeep TJ won't pass inspection because of fluid on the driver's side rear brake housing. Not sure where it's coming from. Could it be from the drum brake? Or from the axle? How could I find out, and how much would it cost to fix?

In addition, is there someone in Charlotte yall would recommend to fix it?
 
most likely the rear axle seal, leaking gear oil into the drums. I failed for this once before. I think the Dana 35 seal is right by the wheel end, still have to pull the axleshaft out.
 
As stated, it could be the gear oil in the axle, or the brake fluid from the wheel cylinder. The gear oil is not a big deal, but if you are losing an appreciable amount of brake fluid, you really need to get it fixed. Brake fluid has a pretty thin consistency, gear oil is very thick. They both also have a very pronounced scent. You can easily get the scent of brake fluid by pulling the cap off of your brake fluid reservoir under the hood. I can fix either problem for you for a pretty fair price, my shop is in Dallas, just down I85.
 
good point on the brake fluid...but with a wheel cylinder leak, the brakes most likely wouldnt be feeling right. I assumed the brakes were in good working order, or else the original post would have been 'how do I fix my brakes, becuase they suck and I failed inspection cuz they're leaking'. But ya never know...its easier to change out a wheel cylinder than axle seal.
 
even if it is a axle seal, it won't take 30 min to repair. You don't even have to remove the brakes.
 
You can look on the rear of the drum. If the oil is leaking from where the axle tube meets the drum, it's probably your axle seal. It usually doesn't get on the braking surfaces from the axle seal. It's very common on the D35.

You can remove the wheel and slide the drum off and inpect the wheel cylinder. If its oily or wet, there's your culprit. This would most likely leak onto the braking surface of the drum.

If the fluid is leaking onto the braking contact surfaces I would fail it for inspection too. Oil on braking surfaces = little to no brakes on that wheel.
 
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