I looked in the archives and just found myself confused on what one is the correct or better rear seal? So my question is what seal should I use on my 944S2?

 

It seems many people have mentioned the black rear seal as being a lower quality than the red(brown) seal. When I did mine Paragon hadn't heard of this and checked in back and sure enough they had both types from different suppliers. I got the red one. Here's a link to some of the info:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...rear+main+seal

 

Get the brown/red one, it hasn't given me any trouble at all. Actually for the first 100 miles it leaked, then it just seated itself properly and quit leaking, now it works perfectly. Not a hard job really, but the old one is a little tricky to get out... use a small pocket screwdriver and try to either turn it ever so slightly or bend it so that you can use some pliers to grab it and pull it out...
good luck!

 

do you need to remove the transmission/clutch to replace the rear main seal? mine is leaking as well.

 

judd, yeah sucks! If its not a bad leak and you are close to a clutch job, just hold out.....

 

I replaced the rear seal on my 968 with the red/brown one and it leaked. Pulled it all back apart and replaced it with a seal that I purchased from 944online. It was different looking but I installed it and no leaks now. I was replacing the clutch which made it the right time to replace the seal. Make sure when you install it that it is straight.

 

my clutch only has 15,000 miles on it. I think the oil is wearing my clutch faster though. bad news.

 

Okay, I ordered a clutch hardware kit from lindsey, and the rear main seal has a black outside, and a brown inside part. Is this what the brown seal is?

 

My seal was all brown unless I'm reading your post wrong.

 

I did not need to read this today. I am 3/4's through a clutch job. I got my clutch kit from Pelican and it came with the black one. I looked at that black one and I looked at the brown OEM one that was in my car. I thought the OEM one looked better for some reason. Yesterday I got the clutch is installed, the bellhousing is on and the central driveshaft is back where it belongs. All that remains is the trans and the exhaust. Oh well, guess I am testing the black one.

 

Mine is half-brown, half-black.
Let me reference a picture...

Does the black one seal better on the outside, and Lindsey racing is chopping them up to make the best one?...

 

This is craptastic, I just ordered one from Zims along with a bunch of other stuff. Guess I'll have to call them up in the morning and figure out which one they've got since if I do install it and it does leak I am going to be VERY PISSED!!!

 

Boy that just muddles everything up now that they are two-tone. I think mine was all brown and I've never seen a black one to compare it to. Paragons shows an all black one:

 

WOW......whats all this "color" stuff have to do with determining if a seal is any good or not? A seal is a seal is a seal............unless the inner/outer/width dimensions are different, or the quality of rubber/manufacturing process is different, or the crank surface is wore out versus not, or, it was just flat installed using a proceedure that made it prone to leak because of the process. Is there really a difference here? Or is it just paranoia? Is the color of it really THAT important? Are we all THAT sure? Maybe we should just look at the dimensions of the seal, as compared to stock? Just REALLY curious, and food for thought.

 

I'm not absolutely sure about these, but we have some rubber materials at work that are only slightly different in color, but vastly different in durometer. That said, I've never heard of a problem with the red seals. Yes, you have to remove everything clutch and transmission related to get at it, but it's a good idea to replace it with any clutch job. You don't want to ruin a new clutch with a seal that fails a few 10k miles after the install. Another "while you're in there" thing that's a good idea with any car.