The steel gears do whine a bit -- probably no cause for concern.

You are correct that the felt seal has no use if the seal has been upgraded to the neoprene (?) kind.

One of my pet peeves is people who use gasket sealants that harden, or the very popular red rubbery stuff that takes hours to clean off properly. I use Hylomar HPF -- the thinnest even smear I can get. It just wipes away, even years later, and often you could even reuse the gasket.