Ford 6600 PTO seal replacement

Ouchita · May 18, 2015

I have a Ford 6600 and the PTO seal is leaking. In looking in the manuals and parts book it appears as if one could simply remove the rear cover and replace the seal. If anyone has experience with this I would appreciate their knowledge.

TractorTech · May 22, 2015

What you are thinking is correct. If it is a two speed (it would have a large snap ring with two ears protruding to rear) then you need to replace the oring on the removable shaft too.

Ouchita · May 22, 2015

Thank you for your response. The tractor is a single speed. The seal would have to be removed over the splines in order not to remove the bell housing and the lift cover. My concern is that if I try and am not successful I will end up having to remove the axle and lift. The leak is not very bad and I would prefer to wait until I go after the brakes etc. later on. If it is an easy fix I would do it now while changing the fluid.

Fawken · May 22, 2015

Ouchita said:
Thank you for your response. The tractor is a single speed. The seal would have to be removed over the splines in order not to remove the bell housing and the lift cover. My concern is that if I try and am not successful I will end up having to remove the axle and lift. The leak is not very bad and I would prefer to wait until I go after the brakes etc. later on. If it is an easy fix I would do it now while changing the fluid.

If it's like my old Ford, you take the back cover off (8 bolts, careful and the gasket is reusable). It will ruin the seal for sure if the shaft has rust and paint, but that's OK as you're putting in a new one. I like to take the shaft out while I'm at it and clean it up with a wire wheel. Shaft goes back in- coat w/ hyd fluid then slide the cover back on. Easy job. Don't paint shaft as that's usually what kills the seal. Just keep it greased thereafter.

TractorTech · May 22, 2015

Pretty much like Falken said. It's not difficult and no you won't have to remove the top cover or axle (s). Remove the seal housing. Drive the old seal out. You can use the old seal as an installation toolmto install the new seal so you don't beat upnthe new seal. Careful sliding the seal over the PTO splines. Put a small smear of RTV silicone on the seal housing and gasket to insure a proper seal.

Fawken · May 22, 2015

And theoretically it would be possible to do it without taking the cover off- but why? So easy and with the cover off it's then real easy to clean the race without getting gunk into the tranny. I remove the shaft because if it wasn't paint, rust or harsh cleaning chemicals that ruined your seal then it could be pits or burrs that need cleaning off. Hate doing things twice.

Ouchita · May 23, 2015

Thank you both for sharing your knowledge. My concern was that I would not be able to get the new seal on without damaging it. In the Ford manual it says to remove the cover and PTO shaft as a unit. To remove the PTO shaft on my tractor you must remove the right axle and the cover to get to the backside of the shaft where there is a nut that holds it in. On a two speed PTO, which I do not have, you can remove it with the cover off, according to what I have read. Doing things twice is very frustrating and can be expensive. Retirement means watching every penny. Now if I can get a couple of days without rain so I can pull the tractor out of the shed to work on it. Thanks to you both.

Ouchita · May 24, 2015

I changed out the PTO seal and this is what I learned. Remove the bearing retainer cover bolts and the cover comes off easily. The splines on the PTO are smaller than the seal so no problem. Be careful of the shims, they are very thin. There is a bearing cup inside the cover that must be removed. I ended up using a gear puller with the teeth reversed. Put some pressure on the puller and turn the cover over and use something to tap on the edge of the cup. Put on more pressure turn it over and tap again, repeat until you have the cup out. This will take a while. A bearing cup removal tool would be nice but I do not have one. The seal is then easy to remove. Start cleaning. I used 600 grit wet or dry on the inside of the cover. Remove any rust or pitting and this will make putting the bearing cup back much easier. Clean the shims and mating surfaces, again I used 600 grit. The shims also act as a seal so if you do not clean them and the mating surfaces good you may get a leak. I used a piece of 2" PVC for installing the seal and the bearing cup along with some hyd. fluid. A press would be nice but again I do not have one. Make sure the seal and bearing cup are completely seated. Clean PTO shaft especially where the seal rides. It took about 6 hours to complete. Hope this helps someone else.

Fawken · May 24, 2015

sounds like you did a good job. And I, too used a piece of 2" PVC in the manner you described.

Ouchita · May 24, 2015

Thank you for the complement and for your advise! I hope so or I will have to do it again. It was raining today so I decided to get the PTO seal done. Really getting tired of all the rain. Tomorrow is the brake shaft boots and maybe get to replacing a couple of the loader hyd. lines. The weather says next Thursday it will not rain. When I change the hyd. oil I want to get the loader up in the air so as to drain the lines of as much fluid as possible. If I do that in my shed there is a minor problem with the roof.