Seal Question.

[ginyu6869]

Hello, I have a 1988 beretta ss with a 5.7l and a 280vp. I was in the process of changing out my intermediate shaft bearings and I removed the bellhousing to do so. I ordered the bearings and the 2 seals 958860. I got ran into a problem with one of the seals. The seal on the U-joint side does not fit tightly into the bellhousing. There is space between the wall and the seal when inserted into the bellhousing. The seal on the engine side fits tightly. Both are the same part number 958860 on the package. Is there supposed to be this gap, as the one that I took out was tough to remove and there was not a gap between the walls. I cannot reuse that seal cause it got ruined. Someone please tell me if this is how its suppose to be, cause out of all the people, I hope that I did not get the wrong part sent to me in the right packaging. If i reinstall the engine, would I still be able to install this seal if I had to reorder another? Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: Seal Question.

Yes, that is the right part number, and no it shouldn't be loose in the housing.
Compare it size wise to the one you put in the front part of the housing and see if it's the same size.

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

Yes, that is the right part number, and no it shouldn't be loose in the housing.
Compare it size wise to the one you put in the front part of the housing and see if it's the same size.

Thanks Don. I am including a pic to show how loose this is. On the site there is a number 69 and there is a number 71 but both have the same part number on them. Here are the pics. You can see in the pic that when I turned the unit side ways to take a pic, the seal was sliding around.

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

Yes, that is the right part number, and no it shouldn't be loose in the housing.
Compare it size wise to the one you put in the front part of the housing and see if it's the same size.

Yes Don, they are the same size. If I put this one on the end of the engine side, it becomes snug. Only on the U-joint side do I have this space and play. It just sits right on top of the snap ring. What now, cause Im lost. I followed your order instruction to the (T) and know I didn't order the wrong stuff.

 

[captmello]

Re: Seal Question.

Did the new bearing go in snug?

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

Did the new bearing go in snug?

Yes, the bearing did go in snug. The seal on the engine side went in snug also, both will, just not on the U-joint side. The bearings had different part numbers, but the seals didn't. Could it be that I have a different outdrive? Just guessing and lost.

 

[captmello]

Re: Seal Question.

I can only speculate on why the seal isn't fitting. Does the inside surface that the seal should mate up with feel worn, It should be machined smooth. Could it be damaged from before? How di the old seal fit?


Yes the seal could be installed after the engine and flywheel cover are back in the boat.

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

The outside diameter of the seal is to small. It seems that it needs to be at least 1/8 inch bigger. Its not to big and it is not tight in the hole, it just sways back and forth and does not fit snug. The old seal fitted snug and was hard to remove, meaning you could not just pull it up. When I go to put it in, it just drops in on top of the snap ring. See the pic above, it just falls in and sways to all sides.

 

[captmello]

Re: Seal Question.

You said the seal fits snug on the engine side, right? If so. the seal must be right. So is the flywheel cover damaged?

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

You said the seal fits snug on the engine side, right? If so. the seal must be right. So is the flywheel cover damaged?

No, there seems to be no damage to the inside. Is the seal supposed to be snug tight when put inside the bellhousing? Does the U-joint spline seat inside the seal when everything is put together? What could I do to get this to work?

 

[Don S]

Re: Seal Question.

Forget the numbers for a minute, put that seal over the one in the front and see if they appear to have the same OD.

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

Yes they do, I got the old one that was removed, and tried to mate it up with the new one, but it is bent out of shape. They look different but seem to have the same outside diameter. Although the old one is bent, I decided to drop it in the bellhousing to measure the space or to see if it had any, and it does, but only a little but I cannot measure it exactly because of it being bent. Is there any seal that I can use that is a little bigger? As I cannot see any damage that is inside my bellhousing.

 

[ginyu6869]

Re: Seal Question.

Forget the numbers for a minute, put that seal over the one in the front and see if they appear to have the same OD.

Thanks, I found out the problem. When the lock ring was installed, it was not installed all the way down in the groove, which caused the seal to sit on top of the lock ring. Thank you all for you quick replies and all you guys help. Don and Cap, you guys are always there for me, no matter how tired you guys get of me. Thanks.

 

[captmello]

Re: Seal Question.

Just glad to hear you got it figures out.