9" pinion seal

[papastoyss]

I'm fighting a pinion seal leak in the 9" rear under my 47 Ford coupe. I replaced the pinion seal & put a repair sleeve on the pinion yoke. It still leaks. The pinion brg. retainer takes the large (4 1/8 ) od seal National # 6930. This seal is leather & costs $39. & leaks also. (Did I tell you I hate leaks?) Does anyone know of another brand # that will interchange & is made of a different material?THANKS

[wayne petty]

just curious if when driving it in,   you knocked of the garter spring from the back side of the seal...  that will sure make them leak,, but i don't know if the leather seals use garter springs...  and its not leaking from around the nuts through the splines....

and..   just curious...  how did you set the pinion pre load...  if its loose the pinion will move around and beyond he seals ability to follow..



i was doing research on the seal size and interchange    timkin uses the same part number...   sold at autozone.. but i have no seal shapes... yet..

az charges more,, maybe they will price match...

looks like it is a 1-13/16 bore with a 4-1/8 housing ..  3/4 thick...    does your yoke measure 1-13/16   i know you put a sleeve on it... but... ....... ....  maybe it is smaller...   still got the part number for the sleeve.. to match up to the catalog size charts...

i know that you know all this... i am just covering all the bases...

[The Paisano]

Sure its coming out of pinion seal and not the splines on the yoke? or possibly the O ring on the pinion support ?You keep tighting up on the pinion nut,your going to burn up the pinion bearings.And then your back to square one.Next time you take the yoke out.clean it real good.and make sure its dry.Put some teflon grease on the splines or white lead,that;s the stuff we used to mark the teeth out with when we ran a pattern to check how the pinion depth
Paisano

[Mikej]

If you have a dial indicator you could check the run out and if you have side play. Could be a bad bearing.

[papastoyss]

Sure its coming out of pinion seal and not the splines on the yoke? or possibly the O ring on the pinion support ?You keep tighting up on the pinion nut,your going to burn up the pinion bearings.And then your back to square one.Next time you take the yoke out.clean it real good.and make sure its dry.Put some teflon grease on the splines or white lead,that;s the stuff we used to mark the teeth out with when we ran a pattern to check how the pinion depth
Paisano

There is no side play in the brgs., it's not wet between the retainer & housing. I am marking the nut & end of pinion so I don't overtighten nut when I reinstall it. I replaced the seal last year & didn't put a sleeve on the yoke because it didn't look too bad. When I noticed the leak was back 3 weeks ago , I bought a repair sleeve & put it on leaving the original seal in place. I also cleaned the nut & yoke real good & put loctite on the threads & nut flange in case the fluid was coming out thru there. I have another 39$ (ouch) seal  but no longer than this one has lasted I would prefer to find one made of modern material if possible THANKS

[wayne petty]

been in the timken seal selector

there looks to only be that one number
shaft,  bore,    OD,   width,  part number,   seal diagram,   material
1.812, 4.123, 4.128, 0.531, 6930,              210,                S

MATERIALS
NITRILE • Commonly referred to as Buna-N and a
Copolymerof Butadiene and Acryonitrile
• Low cost
• Good resistance to petroleum oils, water,
silicone oils,greases, glycol base fluids
• Good abrasion resistance, cold flow, tear
resistance

DISADVANTAGES
Poor resistance to ozone and weather aging


so it looks like the more expensive timken seal is not leather...

i think that i would stop by the hardware store and pick up a few large thick washers that will fit over the end of the pinion shaft .. and large enough to drive the seal on..    welding a length of pipe to the washer will allow you to make a driver for the seal...     i do think i would also pack the back of the seal with wheel bearing grease to keep the garter spring from flying off the back when you drive it in...

i cannot seem to find any pictures of the seal posted anywhere...  so i posted the info right from the catalog..

[papastoyss]

Thanks , Wayne. I ordered a Timken seal from AZ. We'll try it & see what happens.

[mike]

About the Timken seal:
Was it leather, or rubber?
How did it work?

Thanks,
Mike

[papastoyss]

About the Timken seal:
Was it leather, or rubber?
How did it work?

It was rubber, no leaky no mo. I've never been so happy to pay so much for something so small. It appears Timken had a sheet metal stamping made that accepts the standard 9" seal & has the OD of the early bearing retainer.

Thanks,
Mike

[mike]

About the Timken seal:
Was it leather, or rubber?
How did it work?It was rubber, no leaky no mo. I've never been so happy to pay so much for something so small. It appears Timken had a sheet metal stamping made that accepts the standard 9" seal & has the OD of the early bearing retainer.

Thanks,
Mike

Sounds good - I just placed an order.  Rockauto had it for < $30, including shipping - not too bad if it stops the leak.  
I tried an old leather seal too (unsuccessfully).  Hopefully this one works for me too.