g8er_h8er

2006 IS 250, RW drive, 70,000 miles

Went to change the rear brakes today and noticed grease all over the back (inner) side of both rear hubs.

It looks like the grease is exiting where the dust boot (called the "deflector" on Sewell - PN 42452A) meets the axle shaft (see attached pics), or maybe where it meets the hub/bearing assembly as well. I took some pics of a dirty side and the side I had cleaned up a bit.

The outermost boot on the axle shaft appears secure, no tears, etc. Is this deflector really only a dust shield or does it keep grease in the shaft boot and hub?

Need to know if anyone else has experienced this problem, and if they fixed themselves.

Thanks.

Defender46

iTrader: (2)

That is just a shiled to keep stuff out of the speed sensor ring, the grease has to be coming out of the axle some how, maybe just not immediately visible

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Any time I see excessive grease slung around the boot of an axle I'd say it's the half shaft boot. I'd check that first by blasting the area clean with a few cans of brake clean.

Is your vehicle lowered, and on what? You say you are RWD not AWD?

GL!

g8er_h8er

Not lowered, completely stock - RWD.

Half shaft boot is fine, no tears, not loose. Confirmed last night by driving after cleaning everything. Boot stayed clean. Grease is exiting right where the silver part of the axle shaft (the part between the axle boot and the hub, that the axle boot clamps to) meets with the black "deflector" dust boot.

You can see in the second pic above where there's a line of grease that appears fresh around the circumference of that joint.

I need to locate this area of the car in the parts diagrams I downloaded off TIS a while back, but it seems I've lost them.

Jeff Lange

iTrader: (1)

Well there's only 2 places grease exists on that side of the rear suspension, the CV joint, and the wheel bearing. The CV joint looks okay, but if it wasn't, you'd need to get new axles, as Lexus does not sell the boots/grease separately (maybe someone aftermarket does?). The only other place is the wheel bearing, which is a sealed hub & bearing assembly. If grease is coming out of there, you'll need to replace your rear wheel hubs.



Jeff

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Sux, but a wheel bearing failure looks like what you've got there then. Good thing is that these are ALOT easier to replace than having to take the car or the entire knuckle assembly to a shop to press the old one out and the new one in (I had to do this for one of my Hondas). Just a bolt off and bolt on affair you can problem accomplish in a driveway.

GL bro!

huch

What's your exact mileage? These wheel hub assemblies (if they are the culprit) are covered under powertrain warranty for your car since the parts in question are in the REAR and you have a RWD vehicle. Try and find out if its your wheel bearings quick and if you're relatively close to the powertrain cut off you're dealership may just do it.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

His original post kinda shows that he has no remaining warranty I believe : "2006 IS 250, RW drive, 70,000 miles".

g8er_h8er

Appreciate all the replys. Hubs are a lot cheaper than half shafts, so hopefully that's the culprit. As another poster mentioned, out of warranty period.

Does anyone know how grease stays where it should in the hub side of the half shaft? I understand the boot holds grease but I'm talking about what's going on inside that silver collar that the boot attaches to. There's got to be some sort of seal in there around the shaft that blocks grease from exiting out toward the hub, right?

Guess I won't be able to know much more until I tear it down and pinpoint exactly where the leak is.

Now, since my TIS files are missing in action I'm going to spend another 4+ hrs downloading alll the files for the 250. Wish they had an option for a gang download instead of having to get things one by one.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Wheel bearings are a sealed bearing, but are if it's anything like the bearings on my Hondas they are packed with grease and have an inner and outer race that can separate (fail). Sounds like a replacement is needed ASAP.

g8er_h8er

So, the manual shows that in order to remove the hub/bearing assembly, you need to remove the whole carrier, which involves separating the control arm and toe control link (requiring a puller which I don't have).

The hub is connected to the carrier via four bolts. There's also two nuts for the parking brake anchor block that need to be removed (see below). Does anyone know if it's possible to get these off and the hub removed with the carrier still on the vehicle? Looks like a pretty tight fit from what I remember, which is why I'm guessing the manual has you remove the whole thing.

What a pain...

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Tight fit...yes, but still doable if you have the right tools. And about having a puller, you should be able to get them separated without a puller, but perhaps pickler fork might be needed...of which you can rent from Auto Zone or purchase cheaply from Harbor Freight. Perhaps this pic could help you reference all of those components that are connected to what I call the rear knuckle :



This is a pickler fork or rod separator, if you don't already know :



Have you ever had to do anything as in-depth as this on any vehicle before? Perhaps a second hand could be of use to you.

g8er_h8er

Thanks for the info. I can rent a puller if need be. Actually surprised I've never had to use one before. I'd love to be able to get that hub out without removing the carrier though. Just not sure there's enough room for a socket wrench to get at some of those bolts.

Most in depth I've gotten on car repairs thus far is a timing belt/water pump change on my Toyota Tacoma. The crank pulley socket was torqued to around 218 ft.lbf and I had a hell of a time getting that off, so I'm not looking forward to removing the axle nut on the Lexus.

nsh1351

It's the axle boot clamp. I've seen it before. Doesn't have enough tension from certain factories. If your cars under warranty have it replaced. If not, clean it off and see if it does it again. If it does, get a new clamp. They have plenty of grease in there.

g8er_h8er

Doesn't appear to be the clamp. Already cleaned off and drove and grease isn't leaking from anywhere around the clamp. Grease is leaking on the other side of the shaft - the silver collar closer toward the hub. So unless there's a seal inside that silver collar that's leaking, it looks to be a hub issue.