lost bearing

Thank goodness the rain stopped, and I was able to get out and fix things.

I had been getting worried about the car's portside rear hub, which had been leaking oil into the brake drum. So I took it to bits, and found that the bearing was breaking up.

Oil all over the brake pads is not a good thing when you want to stop quickly... look, you can see that there is a ball missing from the bearing there.

Lord knows where the missing ball went to; I wonder if it had been assembled like this at some point in the past? -a bit of the cage had broken off and lodged in the oil seal (the black thing on the right in this picture) and there was no sign of the spring that should have been wrapped around the inside of the seal. Which is why it wasn't doing its job.

So there is now a new bearing and a new oil seal in place.

As I worked, I was accompanied by a young magpie, which had ventured out of its nest in the tree above the car and taken refuge in a nearby bush. The parents spent the day anxiously dashing to and fro feeding it. I know that feeling...