Fixing a Leaky RF-45 Mill Head - Enco

[henryarnold]

Ed,

Today I started tearing down my RF45 type Mill. I got the head off and apart. My seals are installed the opposite direction from the way yours are installed. I believe your direction is correct and that my seals were installed wrong!

Some Observations on my tear down.
-The inside of my head had a thin layer of what looks like rust but rubs off. No shavings.
-My Grizzly G0519 is identical to your pictures although I believe your column and yoke are slightly different.
- In addition to my seals being upside down, I believe that oil was leaking past the disk that the seals are pressed into. There's a rubber gasket but there was evidence that oil had gone past this gasket.
-Thanks for the tips on how to remove the rubber plugs. Are you going to reuse them or make new ones?
-I had another leak through a control box mounting screw hole that went through to the gearbox.
-Did you replace the seals for the gearbox selector shafts? Mine don't appear to be leaking but I'm afraid that if I skip them, they will leak next.
-My sight glass is plastic like yours. It wasn't leaking but I removed it anyway and found that it had a rubber gasket AND Teflon tape on the threads.

Thanks for posting this thread. It is very helpful. If anyone wants to see additional pictures, I'm also documenting my rebuild and can post them.
Henry Arnold