Is installing this wheel seal necessary?

[oldsohc]

Vehicle is a 03 Mazda Protege. Rusty old beater I got off a co worker, needed some work including a new wheel bearing. I purchased a new wheel seal for $2 along with the new bearing as it mentioned one in the parts catalog as well as the service manual. I pressed in the new bearing today and I am debating on whether I should bother with this "wheel seal".

The old seal had completely disintegrated. It looks like the new one is to be tapped into the spindle, and the lips of the seal slip over the (what is now) rusted part of the CV cup?
I question if the new seal would last once any grease I apply around the CV cup dries up, obviously I'd need to wire wheel the rust off of it first.

Thoughts? Should I bother installing the seal? I thought many vehicles don't even use a seal like this, since the wheel bearing is already sealed?

 

[MParr]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9BopxJyCHUY

 

[928]

The engineers that designed the car thought it should have one, why would you leave it out?????????

 

[Trav]

Yes, it keeps water junk out of the splines.

 

[tomcat27]

I would install it but I would also sand off the rust. Sanding around the circumference

 

[Dave9]

Yes many vehicles don't use one. Considering it's an '03 "rusty old beater", it is doubtful the rest of the vehicle will outlast the bearing and if I was in the middle of doing that repair and didn't have a new seal, I wouldn't delay the repair to get one, but if I already had it, and since it seems that you have easy access to the entire perimeter of the CV axle to clean it off, I'd put it on.

It does decreases the water and road grime getting to the bearing, which while sealed, will wear the seal faster if grime is slowing working against it.

If it doesn't last, at least it helped to seal it for a while. Worst case is it makes a rubbing noise once the grease is shot, before eventually failing, but then at least you know you did what you could to get it repaired as good as possible.

 

[Kestas]

Is the seal on the bearing a 4-lip design? If not, then it needs the extra help of this seal.

How or why did the previous bearing fail?

Before installing, prep the mounting surface well. A poor mounting surface easily provides a path for water ingress.

 

[DuckRyder]

Mazda spent all the time and money to machine the knuckle for that seal, then designed, sourced had manufactured and shipped the seal which they designed a process to install in the knuckle during assembly because it is completely unnecessary - just go ahead and leave it out that is a fantastic idea.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Not needed, same bearing is used on vehicles that don't use a seal. It is better to have but not necessary on an old beater on borrowed time. Probably be replacing that China bearing in a year or 2 anyway.

 

[oldsohc]

I came across some info on a Mazda forum that states Mazda stopped installing the seal on 2002.5+ Protege's because it trapped water and instead cut out a drain below the bearing seat in the knuckle(visible in the photos). That would explain why I didn't encounter a seal during removal (thought it had completely disintegrated). Well that solves that.