Rear end seals

[t walgamuth]

I replaced my rear end seals with new ones from the Algar about ten years ago and in spite of the fact that I have put virtually no miles on the car they are now leaking again.

One fellow said that you need to use the 250w gear lube and they won't leak. Anybody have an opinion about that?

Tom W

[tyang]

Hi Tom,

First off, make sure it's leaking from the seals. Gear oil can also leak past the splines behind the axle nut. Another place to check is the flange that holds the seal to the axle. We use a skim coat of RTV on the flanges and the back side of the washer for the axle nut before assembly.

250wt oil is what the factory recommends in the owner's manual, but I don't know if it will help bad seals.

Tom

[t walgamuth]

OK, thanks. I'll check closer. If its the splines how to stop it? A nice thick coating of bearing grease on the splines?

Tom W

[8339]

Tom, something to consider is simply the lack of use. I have had the pleasure of overlooking collections of vintage cars and one the biggest problems is lack of use. The collection I now take care of gets regular use, I bring the engine up to operating temperatiure, and give the cars some exercise. One of the major problems of petroleum products are the tendency to chemically cause the seals to crack. They really require heat cycles to keep them from "drying "out and cracking.

[tyang]

OK, thanks. I'll check closer. If its the splines how to stop it? A nice thick coating of bearing grease on the splines?

Tom W

The hub is held onto the the axle with a castle nut and thick washer. We use some silicone on the washer to keep oil from getting past the splines.

Tom

[t walgamuth]

Tom ,

OK, that is simple enough. I can do that.

Thanks very much!

Tom W

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

Bingo! The lack of use is a death knell of these cars. I have
learned that the hard way over the years and have made it a
hard and fast rule to exercise all my cars on a regular basis.
Get the engine up, warm up the brakes, shift those gears, put in
some fresh gasoline, perform visual inspections before and after, etc.

Like horses, these cars need to come out of the stable and be
put through their paces.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

[tyang]

I had a slight axle seal before I took the car to MD in May, but after 800 miles of driving, it looks like it went away.

Tom

[whturner]

I replaced my rear end seals with new ones from the Algar about ten years ago and in spite of the fact that I have put virtually no miles on the car they are now leaking again.

One fellow said that you need to use the 250w gear lube and they won't leak. Anybody have an opinion about that?

Tom W

Hi Tom:

The advice about driving is right on - for all models and years of cars. The surfaces of rotating members have to be kept polished.

The current Ferrari thinking regarding lube is multiviscosity synthetic gear oil for both Modern and Vintage cars.

Contrary to popular opinion, a higher viscosity oil will not fix leaks, and a lower viscosity oil will not cause leaks. And besides, a "single viscosity" oil changes more with temperature than does the multiviscosity oil, so as the lube heats up, they will aproach each other in viscosity. I don't have the viscosity vs. temperature tables to know exactly where that is, but I am pretty sure it is within the operating temperature range of our cars.

My "use test" is about 3000 miles on Mobile 1 75/90 gear oil - no leaks so far.

As far as the water pump seal in concerned, there are 2 problems - the spring is too weak, and the rubber boot (in my case) ruptured even though the spring issue had been taken care of. And looking at it, it is not a very sturdy rubber article. (Can you say Junk?)
We ended up using a commercial/industrial seal with some minor machining to adapt it.

Cheers and Good luck
Warren

[t walgamuth]

Does anybody have a picture to post of the water pump? ...Off the motor.

Tom W

[steve lapp]

250 weight oil is not so common in rural Ontario - and I see in these posts, folks using other weights. Can one use SAE85/95 in the rear axle of a 330? Did Ferrari use the 250 because they assumed you would drive at 145 mph all day, and the oil would be 220F?

Drive it or it dies (as I eagerly await front end parts).

Cheers

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

250 wt oil can easliy ordered off the internet. I prefer to use
what the manufacturer recommends.

Who doesn't drive their GTE at 145 MPH?

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

[tyang]

250 weight oil is not so common in rural Ontario - and I see in these posts, folks using other weights. Can one use SAE85/95 in the rear axle of a 330? Did Ferrari use the 250 because they assumed you would drive at 145 mph all day, and the oil would be 220F?

Drive it or it dies (as I eagerly await front end parts).

Cheers

I use 250 wt, but have heard of plenty of people using 80/90 without adverse effects. Gear oil in the rear diff gets changed so infrequently, I feel it doesn't hurt to go the the extra bit to buy the recommended stuff and put it in. If you're waiting for suspension parts, then you can wait the couple days for the right gear oil to come in the mail. Just my thoughts.

Good luck!

Tom

[tyang]

Does anybody have a picture to post of the water pump? ...Off the motor.

Tom W

There are different versions of the water pump from different engines, but they work in a similar fashion. Do you have a parts book? I think Kerry has them available in PDF on his website.

Tom

[330GT]

Here are some pictures when I rebuilt the water pump on my 330:
Body. The impeller bolts to the square shaft in the center.

Impeller and sealing surface

Impeller with seal

I don't have a good picture of the water pump cover, but you can see part of it at the upper right

Per Yale, I've included the pictures here, but you can read the full story at:
http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari/W ... ebuild.htm

TomWa, since you have a series 1 car, the parts book is in Merritt's Owner's Manuals book.