Warped Rear Main Seal Retainer

sflem849 · Jan 16, 2011

I have been asking around and it sounds like it is pretty common to have a warped rear main seal retainer. (I am working on an MD right now) Most people say to give it a slight sanding and put it back together. The dealer said to use the gasket eliminator instead of a gasket because it will be more forgiving. A local said to cut it out of thicker material (NAPA didn't have any) You have to make the gasket for an MD no matter what because they don't make it anymore.
Has anyone ever used a surface grinder to straighten it up? Any idea how much I can take off before the seal starts riding in the wrong spot?

Anonymous-0 · Jan 16, 2011

I had the same problem on my MD. My machinist very gently tweaked it back straight in a press. I made the gasket from 1/16 in. gasket material i got from NAPA (not cork). That was the thickest they had. I used RTV orange to mount the gasket to the plate and to the retainer. This is very fixable. Try to get the retainer plate as flat as possible. My tractor is back together with several hours running time with no leaks.

farmhand · Jan 16, 2011

If you will find a 400 or a 450 rear main retainer they are cast iron and have a different gasket set up than the MD. I have changed my MD and SMD over to them after running into the same thing you are looking at warped retainer not holding the rear seal and leaking. I even tried to get another retainer thinking I could find a better one before I found out about the different set up in the newer diesels and it was in worse shape than the one I had and thats when I learned about the later diesels set up.

Warped Rear Main Seal Retainer

sflem849

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Anonymous-0

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farmhand

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