'47 pinion seal - 18880 correct one??

[sjaakslinger]

I have a leaking pinion seal and got NAPA 18880 after searching here on this forum.

 

The seal that was in my '47 Plymouth looks quite different though. Lacking a seal puller, I had to go medieval on the seal to get it out.🙄 It had a big washer, a thicker rubber inner seal and a felt seal in the front, all pressed in some casing. I added a picture with some of the remnants. I see this particular unit is also for sale with some known vendors and eBay.

 

The NAPA one is a simple unit. See pic. It's also thinner than the old unit.

 

So the question...can this simpler unit be installed? The bearing is still fine. Is it the flange that presses it tight in the race?

 

Then there's the flange. It looks different than the part that the part book mentions. See pic. Does this look familiar to someone? Unfortunately it has quite some wear. I want to try it anyway. If it doesn't seal well, I'll consider a speedi sleeve.

 

Thx. 

 

Dennis

[9 foot box]

   See if you can get a 5851 pinion seal. I think it would be better. You might need a SKF 99187 speedi sleeve. You’re going to have to clean up the scrapes and gouges on the housing. There is a press fit tolerance for the seal that make them stubborn to get started straight. So you want the starting chamfer on the housing neat and clean. The original seal number is 663602. The seal that you have, might seal fine, installed flush to the housing. 

[Saskwatch]

9 hours ago, 9 foot box said:

   See if you can get a 5851 pinion seal. I think it would be better. You might need a SKF 99187 speedi sleeve. You’re going to have to clean up the scrapes and gouges on the housing. There is a press fit tolerance for the seal that make them stubborn to get started straight. So you want the starting chamfer on the housing neat and clean. The original seal number is 663602. The seal that you have, might seal fine, installed flush to the housing. 

That is very helpful & timely information!

  Thank you for sharing that 👍👍

[sjaakslinger]

Ok, I installed the 18880 seal today. Pretty tricky to get it in straight. I measured the distance from the front of the pinion bearing to the edge of the housing and compared that distance to the flange. It cleared the small wear slot on the flange. I marked that distance on the flange, so I'd know at what point it would be flush with the bearing. 

 

No idea if it's the best way, but I figured the flange should be slightly pressing against the bearing in order to keep it in place. And not too loose, otherwise there would be play. I must say, the service manual is quite poor. No mention on any of this. I'm not a mechanic and this was my first pinion seal replacement, so a clear service manual would be nice.🙄

 

I took a short test drive. Afterwards a few drops of diff oil dripping of the housing. I hope this is the oil I used to lubricate the new seal and flange when installing.... No oil thrown upward against the rear bottom of the body, so I'm carefully optimistic. 

 

On the other hand, now I know how the job is done, so the next one will be quicker.😁

[Sniper]

The yoke holds the bearing in place, not the seal.  Typically, the seal is driven in flush to the housing.