R Moline starter

I am completely new to MM. I have a RTU that is getting oil in the starter. Do I have a bad rear seal or is there some type of deflector that is missing in the bell housing? Any help will be much appreciated. Ken

You have a bad rear seal. Most R's used a felt seal that oozed a bit all the time, but not probably as much as you are seeing.

Some of the later ones used a lip-type seal which worked much better. You need to know if your crank has the spiral groove in the seal area before you try to put a lip seal in place of the felt seal. If the spiral groove is there you need another felt seal.

You just knock the metal halves apart, oil the seal,put the new seal in and snap the 2 halves back together. If you don't have the groove but have the felt seal, I think you can just press the new seal into the outer half of the old retainer and put it back in.

Happy tractor splitting!

Thanks. I was afraid of that. I see the starter ring is in bad shape also. Ii is a 1954 model I believe.

Ken M,
I agree with t.r.k. that you probably need to replace the rear crank seal.
You might want to note;
Check that #RT153 input shaft oil seal too.
Check the rear main by shaking the crankshaft. The best seal will not seal a jumping crank. I get a lot of customers that complain that they have to buy the parts twice because they did not replace that one necessary item.
You can use a felt or rubber lip seal with no big worry about if the crank edge is spiraled. I have seen many times where a spiral cut crank seal surface had a rubber lip seal that lasted for years.Personally I do use felt on spirals myself.
I suggest you use a white F1 type felt if you go the felt route. The old grey type F3 seals wear fast and allow a lot of leakage.
Use a new #EE361 gasket, or cut one from stock, when reinstalling the seal holder. If RTV gets on the wrong places, the new seal will not stop the oil.
If you use a felt seal; soak it in ten weight SB oil after putting it in the holder, and before installing it. If you use a rubber seal; lube it with a "wet paste" silicone before assembly. The silicone makes it easy to get the seal over the crank edge and will stop burn in better than oil.

Just remember; If changing that seal is easy for me anyone can do it. My only warning is to block up the tractor really well.

Have fun.
Charlie