I’ve used Permatex 2B to seal up lower units several times over a few years and it has worked well – this is the non-hardening sticky black stuff. I went to buy more and found Permatex offerings no longer go by the "numbers" and I could not match up the 2B with current offerings by reading labels. I have seen here that 3M1000 is recommended, but I don’t have a place nearby to get it quick – I looked it up online and found it is silicone based. The closest stuff I could find to the old 2B was a Permatex type that is non-hardening and gasoline/oil resistant that is also silicone based, called "Motoseal Ultimate Gasket Maker" and it says it can be used on cars for cylinder heads, crank case halves, transmission case halves, and a bunch of other stuff, so I decided to try it. The color is blue. I know it’s meant for making gaskets and not sealing them, but thought I’d give it a try.
I have done two RD lower units, using this stuff on the rope seal and under housing screw heads and it worked fine, with no leaks after 2 weeks of running. I’ve found one abnormality with using it. I’m using Sierra seal kits and after cutting the rope seal to the proper length, when this stuff came in contact with the seal, the seal quickly grew about 1/2 inch, evidently reacting to some solvent in the sealer, so I had to trim the seal shorter.
Now I’m wondering:
1. Has anyone else tried this Permatex stuff? and what is your experience?
2. Does this stuff elongate the rope seal in OEM sealkits, or is this just the Sierra material it doesn’t like?
3. Does 3M1000 elongate rope seals?
4. Is there another current Permatex offering that works better and doesn’t make the seal grow (it’s easy to buy Permatex at auto stores near me)?
5. Other sealer recommendations?
Thx,
Dave
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