[exception]

Had a severe oil leak from water pump pulley area. Turns out the seal in the "camshaft oil retainer" has failed. I spent a whole day to reach the retainer, which is PLASTIC.

The seal kit I bought is Fel Pro TCS 46071 with 2 pieces: (1) the black bottom seal (2) red camshaft seal

The black seal fits perfectly. The red ring is slightly smaller than the old one in outer diameter. I hammered the old seal out.....BIG MISTAKE ...... IT BROKE! The old ring seal is also plastic, and it is GLUED in the retainer housing! There is no press-fitted metal seal to begin with. Now I have to search everywhere for a retainer.

All youtube guides showed an ALUMINUM retainer. You just press the red seal into the hole.

All stores, Amazon, Rockauto, etc shows that Fel Pro 46071 "fits" 2011 Mercury Mariner v6. This is unbelievable. All aftermarket vendors are including this ring seal, that can never be installed!

This pic shows the PLASTIC retainer. It has Ford part number 9L8Z-6B293-A. It does not list Escape/Mariner as compatible models. But mine looks same as this

Do you have aluminum or plastic retainer? This leak is very common. How do you do this job? Do I understand anything wrong or am I just unlucky

 

[tomw]

QUOTE:"
This pic shows the PLASTIC retainer. It has Ford part number 9L8Z-6B293-A. It does not list Escape/Mariner as compatible models. But mine looks same as this"

I would use the 'compatible models' list and pick one of them for the shaft seal and 'bottom' seal.
I make the assumption that the other models are also 3.0, but a variant that has, e.g., variable cam timing, or, lacks the same. The assembly line may have run a day short, and just to keep things moving, grabbed the closest to original spec, put it in and shipped. Or, there were unknown replacements made.
If you go to an auto parts store, take yours with you.
Dealer lookup indicates this Ford part number 9L8Z-6B293-A fits 2006-2009 model years. Fusion and Milan.
Maybe I don't understand, but wouldn't that part have the seal you need? Or a seal for a 06-09 fit into the plastic?
tom

 

[exception]

I received and installed it. No more leaking. I can now confirm that new part 9L8Z-6B293-A is same as old one. The part number on the old one is very blurred and appears to be 9L8E-6B293-BA.

The only difference between them, is the small teeth around the metal bolt sleeve on the new one. So the bonding between plastic and metal is strengthened. (New is on LEFT)

 

[PhyscoPyro]

Im glad i ran across this while searching the web as I too tried to remove the - glued in non serviceable seal. Thought it was pressed in just like any other seal... Really like the engineer to explain the reason behind this. Then like you, the part number on the old one was the same and did not show up on any site. But the other number, made for earlier year models, was luckily in stock at my local Ford dealer. Funny thing, mine looks like the one on the left in your picture.. but has the original number stamped on it. Older escapes, this was part of the block. Not a separate plastic piece. Then ran across a Mazda tech that showed this part in aluminum. Found the part numbers for it, but couldnt find an actual picture of it to confirm it was the exact same. The camshaft seal alone was 60 bucks.

I too can confirm that part # 9L8Z-6B293-A was a direct replacement for my 2011 3.0L.

If anyone is interested... Here is what I found for what Mazda lists it as... older to newer. AJ57-10-190; AJ5710190A; ZZD2-10-190. . Then the seal Ford part, but Mazda sticker GY01-12-601
Youtube video