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I'm in the process of trying to stop the hemorrhaging of my Ultramatic. I have a new pan gasket from Ultramatic Dynamics and have removed the pan and cleaned the screen. There was black gunk all over everything but no solids in the pan. I know that both the Valve Lever Shaft and Throttle Lever Shaft seals need to be replaced and I have them on order (Thanks, Howard for the SKF numbers).

I've read all the threads I can find on the subject of seal replacement and have looked through the Ultramatic Manual but the troubleshooting section only says:
"Remove the oil pan. Remove the control valve operating cross shaft and install a new seal."

And...
"Remove the oil pan. Remove the throttle valve operating shaft and lever. Install a new seal."

My question is... do you have to remove the whole valve control body to get the shafts out, or will they come out with the valve body in place. In particular the throttle valve shaft and lever seem pretty well trapped by the valve body (I'm assuming it's removed from the inside after disconnecting the exterior linkage).

Any help from someone who has actually replaced the seals with the transmission still in the car would be appreciated.

PS. The transmission functions just fine. But I'm tired of traveling with a square of cardboard to soak up the drips.

PPS. 1949 non-Gearstart Ultramatic

No hints in replacing the seals but Ross will be along with the skinny. I think you are the first I remember who will be trying the seal cross numbers so sure hope the people who made the reference list had no errors. Let us know.

For anyone wanting the list here's the link.http://www.studebaker-info.org/Cb/MetalSealXch.txt Just in case that website disappears, I suggest downloading and saving the reference. The middle column CR numbers seem to cross best to SKFhttp://www2.chicago-rawhide.com/ since SKF apparently is or bought CR.


On the leaks, one thing to be sure of is to go thru and use a straightedge to ensure the oil pan bolt hole areas are flat. The bolts bending the metal up when compressing the gasket seem to be responsible for a lot of leaks.

Ross will have more detailed advice, but years back I replaced both seals w/o removing the pan. Carefully drilled the seal with 2 small holes, inserted self-tapping screws and used them to pry the old seal out. On a different occasion I found the recess deep enough to accommodate 2 seals so I just added one on top of the existing seal.

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If the seals work out well, I'll put them in the X-ref section with the Packard p/n reference.

I did take a BFH to the pan lip where needed. I think the new cork/composite gasket is thick enough to compensate for any minor unevenness in the lip. We'll see.

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Thanks Dave. If I didn't already have the pan off for cleaning, the seal removal with the shaft in place would be tempting. Since I have gone this far I think I'm going to try and remove the shafts if for no other reason than to check them out for burrs or rough spots that could abrade the new seals.

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JD, I purchased the pan gasket and shaft seals from Ultramatic Dynamics last year and chose to replace the seals without removing the shafts. Yes, it is tight working conditions and I had to fabricate a couple of adaptors to "press" the seals into the seal bores but it worked out perfectly. Basically I did what OD suggested and punched a hole into the old seals and inserted a small sheetmetal type screw into the hole. If you choose this method, use a screw that's softer than the shaft just in case the screw threads come in contact with it, even brass will work for this application. If I recall correctly, there was a hole in the frame on both sides that was almost directly in line with the shafts. I used these holes to insert the screwdriver and access the screw heads. Once I had the screws installed, I simply pryed the old seals out with a pair of needle nose vice grips being careful to use a thin piece of wood between the grips and the tranny case. Both seals came out with little effort. The adaptors I mentioned were basically bushings that were smaller in diameter than the seal bores and had center holes large enough to fit over the shafts. I cut the bushings to suitable lengths that would allow me to insert a tool similar to a brake adjusting spoon or nail remover between the frame and bushing and then "pressed" the seals into place by prying against the frame until the seals bottomed out in the bores. If you're capable of working in close quarters, then this is a relatively simple approach to replacing the seals without removing the shafts. Unless the tranny was on the bench, I wouldn't worry to much about removing the shafts for deburring as you probabaly run more risk of causing damage by removing them in the car than if you left them in. In addition, I may be mistaken and Ross can confirm this but I believe the shifter shaft has to slide "outward" for removal. If so then the X frame restricts the tranny from dropping down far enough for the shaft to slide out.

Today I dove under the car and tackled the throttle valve control shaft. The part of the control valve body that was keeping the shaft from sliding out of the seal was just held in place with two screws so I removed the part and moved the shaft inward well clear of the seal. I could have removed it completely but that would involve loosening the oil cooler line fitting for clearance. Since the shaft was in good shape and completely out of the way I didn't see a need to remove it.

I pulled the old seal with only a little drama and swearing then cleaned up the area around the seal. Looking at the other side and the proximity of the x brace I can see what Gator means. There is a very nice hole through the steel but it doesn't look like it's near enough to the the shift control shaft to allow it to slide out of the transmission (and 'out' appears to be the only direction it can go). I wonder if the location of the hole in the x brace was determined by the same engineer that placed the dipstick on the transmission?

I've banged up enough knuckles for one day and I'll look at removing the other [shift shaft] seal tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. I'll let you know if/how I get it out. I'd like to have the transmission ready for the new seals when they arrive.

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Understood and glad you got the one out. It's a good feeling to finally look under the car and not see tranny fluid on a fresh piece of cardboard. I don't mind a static leak here and there but I make it a point to try to minimize all of the various fluid leaks as much as possible especially when its as simple as replacing a gasket or seal that doesn't require major disassembly. Ironically, my Ultramatic still had the original 60 year old seals in it so I would say they served their purpose well and that they deserved retirement.

Looking at doing the same on my '53 Cavalier. Thanks for excellent thread!!!