OK I assume this is the bearing right? It leaked about 1/4 cup of oil from the passenger rear wheel hub area (where wheel mates to hub or maybe from the hub cap that presses on) and then stopped. I can't see exactly because that wheel has the little cover over the center hub cap.

Can't really be anything else then sealed wheel bearing right? It's not brake fluid. And those are booted half shafts so those are fluid free. It's a liquid consistency like motor oil or ATF.

Is there any special tools needed to pull that hub bearing and replace? Should come out fairly easy if not overheated and scored up, I presume?

Thanks!
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I looked at Rear Axle section/group 27 of manual for 2003+ and it doesn't tell me or show if bearing can be removed from rear hub or if it's a one piece thing with the rear hub. On one flow chart area it says if wheel bearing is leaking or bad then pull and replace but doesn't show any illustrations or give procedure for it, lol.

Mine is a 2001 XLS but likely the same or very similar on rear axle to 2003 Montero Limited/XLS.

I'd like to do this repair in my open carport on warm winter days...any suggestions on special tools? I don't have any gear or bearing pullers...not sure if necessary or not. Manual doesn't specify that either!

Also, the grease or oil that leaked out for a few days looked rather thin, not like wheel bearing grease. More like transmission fluid thickness.

Owner before me had oversized 20" stuck - out wheels on it, which likely did the bearing in, but who knows. I've had 6 or 7 Montero with 150,000-190,000 miles on them, and NONE ever failed in bearings/hubs except one, my newest 2003 Limited, on the driver side front. That was a new hub I had to buy on that one. It was one assembly.

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I believe Montero Sport have solid rear axle. That would explain fluid coming out on one side at the rear wheel. Full size Monteros (2001+) have independent rear suspension with half axles running from the rear differential out to the wheels. If they had a leak at rear seals, it would be near the middle of the vehicle.

If yours IS solid rear axle - than you have to remove entire part of the axle from the rear differential out to the wheel in order to replace the seal.
I hope other people with MS can confirm this. You may want to do both seals at the same time, since you have to dump rear diff oil to do this.

One more thing - since your seal failed and puked oil all over, check your rear brakes (especially parking brakes) if they got saturated with oil. You may have to replace those too if there is any oil on them.

 

Mine is a full size XLS. Sorry didn't specify. I think the fluid that leaked out was too much and too runny/thin to be bearing grease (from rear hub). I think the axle circlip (or c clip) has failed and the boot/axle pulled away from hub/wheel. But I'm not sure. I saw this was a failure on YouTube. I'll look today and see if any fluid or visual separation is around the axle CV boot.

 

Ok, that makes more sense
It has to be grease from the CV joint boot then. If the boot is torn and you have to replace it (or if you're replacing the entire half-axle), you need to remove the brake rotor, unbolt big nut holding half-axle in the wheel hub, remove bolts holding the half-axle to the rear differential. Then, angle the half-axle down under the differential and it should come out by sliding it towards the center of the vehicle and out of the hub.