2N REAR MAIN OIL SEAL LEAK FIX

Figured while Im in there might as well take a crack at repairing the leaky rear main seal. Not real bad but getting tired of cardboard sheets and coffee cans to catch drips. I put the seal in during a complete overhaul 10 plus years ago and probably didnt get it seated just right.

Saw a few discussions here about using cotton roping from an original TO20 rear seal kit. Searched for a while and the kit Im finding looks like a modern version no mention of packing.

Anybody know a source for the TO20 original kit or just the packing material or have other suggestions for the repair? Not really wanting to split the tractor and pull the crank this go around.
 
Are you sure it's oil & not hydraulic fluid?

I don't know jack about the OEM TO-20 rear seal, but I assume that some how or the other it can be installed w/o dropping the crank? Sorta like a 235 Chevy where you hooked a "Sneaky Pete" to the new seal & pulled it over the crank?
75 Tips
 
The Ferguson kit had cotton roping. Can't find that in the USA since NAFTA sent all the cotton mills out of the USA.

I've used the kit with success.

I think you could use just plain cotton balls from the drug store????

Loosen the mains so the crank will drop a little. I use a 1/8" soft welding rod to pack the cotton up both side as much as you can. Begin with packing
the rope up as far as it will go. May want to put a little bend in the welding rod as it packs up. Break all the flux off the rod before you begin.

Zane
 
Bruce, now that you mention it I'm not positive it's motor oil. Since it drips from the weep hole it could be either. I'd give that a closer look but I'm not running the engine 'till I fix the oil pressure problem ...

Also, not sure if anyone has had much success with the Sneaky Pete Chinese finger. It would be good to hear a success story. If I went that route, wouldn't I have to split the engine from the tranny to get the crank to drop a bit after loosening the main caps? Not sure I want to take it that far at this point but I may end up going there anyway. Mission creep.

Zane, similar question about the crank dropping ... with the tranny attached, will the crank move slightly with the main caps loosened? Unless there's some slop here and there, seems like the crank would stay pretty much in place with the caps loosened. I guess it doesn't need much movement - just enough to relieve the pressure.

Steve (MO)
 
Well, not to be a naysayer......

But you have less than a 50/50 chance of fixing an oil pressure problem on an 8N by rebuilding the oil pump. Chances are it's the bearings.

I'm pretty sure that the Sneaky Pete won't work on an 8N size rope seal; IIRC, the 235 seal was smaller. That's why I was asking about the design of the TO-20 seal.
75 Tips
 
Bruce, you may be right. Just nowt went through my stack of receipts for the 'ol 2N to refresh my memory on the rebuild date: 1999. Time flies. I guess the bearings could be worn out but seems unlikely since I'm pretty good about the oil changes. It does get used a lot though in the summers - about 2 hours almost every week with a 6-foot finish mower.

I haven't done anything with it yet. About all I use the 2N for is mowing and I have another tractor I'm using for that until I get it running again. It may just be a loose or leaky pickup tube (I hope). The good news is when I killed the engine after seeing ZERO oil pressure, it spun to a stop at the same speed it always did and there were no funny smells or steam coming from the radiator.

Funny thing about the OP is it went about 30-40 cold idle, 10-15 hot idle to ZERO in the same day. That sounds like something failed rather that slowly wore out like bearings usually do. Just my though process.

I know zilch about the TO20 seal other than comments I've seen here about using it's packing to fill voids in seals without replacing them.

Time is on my side so I'm proceeding slowly. I've got a couple other fair weather projects ahead of the tractor fix.
 
Given the sudden loss of o/p, I'd say the
odds of bearing failure just decreased
considerably! And at 2 hours a week for
6(?) months a year over 16 years, that's
less than 800 hours. You should have plenty
of life left in that engine.
75 Tips
 

A Sneaky Pete is not gonna work check that off your list... Pack it if you can are remove the crank...

I have some Ferguson rope seal somewhere it was sent to me by mistake they told me to keep it. Sparex sent me a gasket kit for a fergie I did not order. I remember the wade of small rope and knew what it was from a past post Zane made, if not for that it would have been a head scratch'er...
 

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