- Lastly, the 'A' at the end denotes the resistor type, which helps suppress radio frequency interference, improving overall electrical system stability. This feature is particularly beneficial in today's vehicles with advanced electronic systems that can be sensitive to electrical interference.
- Rubber flange gaskets are available in a variety of materials, including neoprene, EPDM, silicone, and nitrile, to suit different operating conditions and requirements. Each material offers unique properties such as temperature resistance, chemical compatibility, and flexibility, allowing users to choose the most suitable gasket for their specific application.
What Benefits Do Oil Seals Provide?
In addition to these standardised types, the following special types are also available:
Of course, all rubber materials and seals will provide a range of benefits; however, you will need to consider chemical compatibility, sufficient temperature ranges, pressure ranges, and more.
What are Oil Seals - Guide to what an Oil Seal is used for
Selecting Quality Gaskets
Seals are designed to create a tight seal around the shaft by utilising a combination of lip geometry, surface tension, and lubrication. When the shaft rotates, the lip of the oil seal comes into contact with the shaft surface, creating a frictional force that generates heat. This heat helps to soften and conform the elastomeric material of the oil seal to the shape of the shaft, ensuring an effective sealing action.
Silicone oil seals, which are also called VMQ, have strong resistance to temperature, which ranges from -140 degrees Fahrenheit to 392 degrees Fahrenheit. They are also resistant to ozone, light, and harsh weather conditions. Silicone is frequently used in hydraulics and pneumatics, as well as in the food and medical industries. Due to the material’s transparency and flexibility, it’s commonly chosen for the manufacturing of o-rings, molded parts, and flat seals, as well as electrical insulators.
Rubber gaskets, commonly used in various industrial applications, serve the purpose of preventing oil leakage and maintaining the integrity of machinery by creating a barrier between two or more components.
Its sealing edge comes in full contact with the shaft surface in order to provide excellent sealing performance.
(See Figure 3.)

front valve cover gasket. Once the old gasket is removed, the new gasket can be installed and the valve cover reattached to the cylinder head.
Oil seal performance is affected by not only the type and material of the selected oil seal, but also a variety of other factors, such as operating conditions, total eccentricity, rotational speed, the substance to be sealed, and lubrication conditions.
Figure 9 shows items relating to oil seal characteristics.
The quality of the rubber or rubber fabric used to make an outer case is the same as the quality of the rubber sealing lip. Fabric reinforced rubber is, as the name suggests, rubber reinforced with a fabric.