6.0 Updated Rear Main Seal Question

[ChristopherH]

Does anybody know how the hell these things are supposed to go? The tools for the older seals do not appear to fit this new seal (has a flange on the wear sleeve, red sealer already inside the sleeve, and a plastic ring in the package with it). The WSM doesn't say anything about this--just wanted some feedback if anyone knows the real info on this seal.

[DwayneGorniak]

Use the 2009 Econoline repair procedure. Ford did not update the service manuals yet other than the E-series.

 

The plastic ring goes onto the tool to fit the new seal.

 

You would think that someone at the Mothership of FOMOCO would pull their heads out of their arses and put an update sheet in with the damned seal and update the freakin service manual, but nooooooo that would be too kind.

[Aaron]

Just did one yesterday. 09 E-series manual. Like Dwayne said...put a sheet in the damn bag!

[ChristopherH]

Thanks for the timely replies guys--that worked just fine!

[Gary_P]

so the plastic ring is an installation add on?

[LARRY BRUDZYNSKI]

If it's the same as the Cummins,Detroit,and Cat. They use the plastic rings not only for alignment but also to help protect the lip during install.

[DwayneGorniak]

so the plastic ring is an installation add on?

It's an addition for the installation tool. Once you're done with it, throw it away.

[Gary_P]

That is what I thought. thanks for clearing that up

[BrunoWilimek]

Just did one yesterday. 09 E-series manual. Like Dwayne said...put a sheet in the damn bag!

It's gone now, but on Friday there was a broadcast message to the effect that the online WSM would be updated to reflect the new design seal. I checked Friday and it wasn't, but today it is. I only checked 08 F250, but I suspect others have been updated as well.

[Mekanik]

Here is a good question regarding the new seal. How do we remove the new style wear sleeve? The tool for the old style one won't grab the new style wear sleeve.

 

We have one in the shop right now. The 2008 Econoline manual says to use the old tool.

[James_Casey]

Take the rear cover off, replace all seals

[DamageINC]

I remember one time I had to surgically remove a wear sleeve from the rear main on a 6.0 with a cut-off wheel. That was nerve-racking, even though I knew that a the new seal & wear sleeve would protect the actual seal itself from getting shredded. I still managed to get it off without marring the end of the crank though...

 

...I just slowly started grinding away at it until I made a trench across it deep enough that I could crack/split with a chisel and some tapping with a small hammer, but not so deep that it actually GROUND all the way through the sleeve.

 

And it was my own damn fault I had to do that too because my dumb ass replaced the rear main on it and didn't take the old wear sleeve off. When I installed the new one, the new sleeve just pushed the old sleeve directly into the cam/crank gears and prevented the engine from turning over at all, lol. That was fun.

 

Dave

[GregH]

I replaced a cracked rear cover in an f-series a while ago and found that there were two wear sleeves on the crank. The inner one was mangled where it clashed with the gears.

 

OASIS showed the last rear seal was installed six months before it arrived in my stall... Wonder what it sounded like when it started with a wear sleeve stuck in the gears?

[Aaron]

"Hey, it made this weird noise, revved it up a couple times, and it went away"

[Brad Clayton]

[Bruce Amacker]

I never worried about damaging a crank when replacing sleeves on large engines as we always installed them with RTV as a lube/sealer anyway. BTW, the seal manufacturers like CR make super thin repair sleeves for virtually any size shaft that still use the OE size seal. They are super cool, machined out of paper thin stainless steel with a flange that is "torn off" after the sleeve is installed on the shaft. This leaves an almost imperceptible sleeve in place, repairing the wear groove or rot that existed. The install tool is a simple sheetmetal cup that pushes the sleeve in place and is discarded after use.

 

A nice shot of the sleeve and install tool is at:

http://www.alliedbearings.com/mfg_prod/seals/cr_speedi/index.html

 

Cool, but not cheap- they averaged $25 a few years ago. For common applications like SBC harmonic there are $3 cheezy stamped versions available from your FLAPS.

 

[Keith Browning]

I was taught years ago that you can take a brass ball-peen hammer to the wear sleeve and work one or two areas to stretch the metal... the sleeve comes right off. I have used this method along with using a hacksaw blade to gently cut a line across the sleeve and tap it with the ball-peen hammer to split it. Some might say this is barbaric but it actually is a skill, one that a good technician//mechanic should posses - using tools effectively. Using common sense and care you won't damage anything. Obviously if there is a tool, by all means use it.

 

 

Back in the 1960's NASA spent a couple million dollars developing a pen that would write in space. The Russians, faced with the same problem, used pencils.

[dieseldoc]

A dull chisel will do the same thing as the ball peen hammer. I have one in my box just for that purpose. It wont cut through the sleeve but will expand it just enough it slides right off. Assuming there is room to get the chisel and hammer in there.

[joshbuys]

Excellent question Mekanik, please do post your findings on that one. I had thought about that once when I was installing a new style seal, but I haven't had the pleasure of needing to remove one yet so I didn't care to take the time to look at it too closely.

[Aaron]

I just did one not that long ago.

 

I used a sharp chisel, and hit the wear sleeve a couple times across the width of it. Then I used the edge of the chisel against the edge of the wear sleeve, and it started to turn on the crank. I kept tapping it around, and it slid off.