Military Vehicles, June 1997,: Re: [MV] 1951 M38 Jeep maintenance questions

Re: [MV] 1951 M38 Jeep maintenance questions

=?iso-8859-1?Q?Torfinn_S=F8rnes?= (tsornes@online.no)
Sat, 14 Jun 1997 12:51:15 +-200

Steve Johnston wrote:

>Hi Mil-Veh gang:

>I just bought a '51 M38 jeep in good condition but before I do any =
driving
>with it I wanted to take care of a couple maintenance items... =
hopefully
>someone can offer this newbie a bit of advice.

>First, and most worrisome... there is a lubricant leak coming from =
the
>right front steering knuckle -- about ten drops a day, I'd estimate. =
The guy
>who sold it to me said it was brake fluid from the wheel cylinder, but =
it
>sure doesn't look like hydraulic fluid -- looks more like old 90 weight =
oil--
>and it looks like it is coming from the seal(s) around the steering =
knuckle
>(the semi-spherical section around the constant-velocity joint) , not =
the
>brake section. =20

>I was going to open up the master cylinder and see what the brake fluid =
looks
>like for comparison to the leaking fluid, but it wasn't clear to me how =
to
>open the master cylinder -- it has a small knob on top -- is that it? =
Or
>does the whole square top lift off somehow? Hmmm...another question to =
find
>answer for.

>Anyway, assuming I'm right and it is leaking from the steering knuckle, =
I
>feel I should top it off until I have time to fix the leaky seal. The =
tech
>manual "lubrication order" says to remove the plug and fill the knuckle =
to
>that level of the hole, just like one would fill a gearbox or =
differential.
>But it indicates that GAA grease is to be used. Is this a typo? If =
they
>want you to fill it that way, rather than pump into a fitting, wouldn't =
GO
>gear oil be the lubricant? I'm so confused... =20

>The other thing that confuses me is the engine oil filter. It has a =
handle
>on top and a drain plug on the bottom. The TM says to turn the handle =
daily
>and periodcally drain the sediment. Is this a "permanent", clean and =
reuse
>sort of filter? If so, it is the first I've seen and I don't really =
know
>what's going on in there.

>Thanks for any advice...

>Steve Johnston sbjohnston@aol.com

>*Extremely* excited about owning this piece of history, but also =
extremely
>new to the world of military-vehicles.

I have a 42 Ford GPW that also leaks oil from a steering knuckle. I =
don't know if these two vehicles have the same type of axle. This is =
what comply for my vehicle: The steering knuckle should be filled with =
grease and not gear oil. I think the reason for this is that the oil =
will leak out of the steering knuckle as it does in your case. There is =
a seal (actually two) between the differential and the steering knuckle. =
The oil must therefore pass through two seals in order to get to the =
steering knuckle. The seals on the steering knuckle is not so good that =
it will keep gear oil inside. So I guess you have to add gear oil to =
your differential until you have time to replace the oil seals.=20

Regards
Torfinn Sornes
Norway

===
To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.