Fly Wheel Cover/PDS bearings and Seals

I have 2 flywheel cover/PDS bearing and seals that I needed to do. Both double bearing. I see the topic of these being repaired quite often, So I started sourcing the parts. What I found was interesting to me. I was searching for the Seal which is 35mmX62mmX7mm. I had no part number to work with which drives me crazy. I searched the Timken site and could not find one. I finally went to NAPA and they had it in stock. Well 2 anyway. I still needed 2 more. They only stocked the bearings (6007) and (6206) in the sealed version. They could order the open style, but were unable to tell me where they were manufactured. They were NAPA branded bearings.
So I came home to the computer and started searching. I searched on the NAPA number for the seal, which is the SKF number 13966 and found them at Rock Auto. I looked at their bearings and was not happy with their brand selection. So I continued my search. I found an online outfit, Quality Bearings Online, and was quite impressed with their selection. They not only have a VERY good description of each bearing they also have them pictured, which makes finding the open bearings easier. They carry Timken, SKF, FAG, KOYO, and NSK along with generic. The down side is they are in the UK. They have a San Diego phone number which I called, due to their using DHL which has terrible delivery service to Oregon. They told me they would use UPS for the same amount and should only take 3 days (we’ll see) So here are my findings


At Rock Auto the 6007 was only available in National brand for $17.81
the 6206 was available in Generic at $1.82 to National brand for $9.31
the SKF seal (13966) was 5.91 each plus $3.00 shipping for both of the seals.
At NAPA the SKF seal was $12.39 each.


At Quality Bearings online the 6007 ranges from $3.97 for QBL (generic) to $99.00 for SKF Stainless Steel.
I ordered an SKF for $8.28 each
the 6206 ranges from $3.84 each for QBL (generic) to $89.56 for SKF Stainless Steel
I ordered an SKF for $8.01 each.
The down side was the shipping at $19.00. I did get 2 of each so I could complete both of the PDS bearings and seals.


When looking for the seal, I could not find Timken. The SKF number 13966 crosses to a Timken number 4901. The 4901 timken measures 35mmX62mmX8MM which is not quite correct.


The SKF 13966 is 35mmX62mmX7mm.


There are some very good post here on the forum for performing the work so I won’t go into that.






Also if your in a hurry, NAPA is most likely best, but if you have time, Rock auto for the seals and Quality bearings online.

I ended up going to a local bearing manufacturer (Cleveland, Ohio) and they had electing what I was looking for. But, this is a great post because I had a bit of trouble finding a good electric motor grade bearing. I found tons of sealed versions and some open faced that didn't specify like you said. I wish this would've been about 6mo ago when you posted this, haha.

The 6206 and 6007 are industry standard open bearings.

The 6206-2RS and 6007-2RS are sealed bearings and are of the exact same dimensions as the 6206 and 6007.
The seals can be picked from them if need be.


I have always purchased these from a major bearing supplier.
Not only do they know what they're doing, their prices are generally better than via NAPA or an Auto Parts Store.
NO Chinese bearings, especially with the AFT 6206. Use only German, Japanese, US etc.

The seals will be listed by size (Metric) and are a 35 X 62 X 7mm and that is generally the p/n they will be listed under.
A major bearing supplier may not stock them, but they can bring them in for you.
I buy them in either a Timken or TCM brand, single lip and fully rubber encapsulated... although not a deal-breaker if not.


Don't forget to pre-fill the grease cavity (while turning the PDS) prior to installing the seals.
Use a good high pressure grease (not the green marine wheel bearing grease)
Only after the cavity has been Pre-Filled, will the seals be installed!


Important note:
The FWD seal installs conventionally, and the AFT seal installs in the Non-Conventional direction.
The AFT seal is stopped against the second large snap ring.

Since there is no snap ring retainer for the FWD seal, it will need to be glued and/or staked in place.
It is very important that this seal NOT become dislodged from excessive grease pressure in the future.
If you were to lose this seal, no future grease will make it through the AFT bearing!

Lube these in the future with the engine running at idle speed! (dynamic -vs- static)
With the cavity having been Pre-Filled, I suggest 3 or 4 grease gun pumps during or after each engine oil change.





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During my approx 24/25 years doing AQ series repair, I repaired several stern drives that became damaged due to PDS bearing failure.
I also sold parts to owners who had suffered from the same or similar damage.

Here is an image of how severe the flywheel cover damage can be.

The AFT PDS bearing failure will cause the PDS to spin out of it's center rotational position.
As you can see here, the oscillation of the drive shaft took out the flywheel cover bellows snout.



In some extreme cased, the drive shaft oscillation also takes out the FWD area of the transmission's clamping collar.

On average, the repair cost can run in upwards of $2,500 or more.


Also, this is what can occur if your vertical shaft brass split ring keeper was to expand and fail.




These failures are caused by owner neglect regarding what should be considered routine maintenance, not from a design flaw.



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Just an update on the parts I ordered from Quality Bearings online. I placed my order on Saturday and they arrived today Wednesday. The seals from rock auto arrived in 3 days. Be very careful as rick stated about orgin of the bearings. I discovered that timken is re-branding Chinese bearings, and the country of orgin is not stated in their catalogs. The ones I selected are made in Italy.