Sealing performance of the combined seals at supply oil pressure of 40MPa was experimentally and theoretically investigated. An experimental setup of combined seals for reciprocating piston rods was established in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Two combined seals were chosen for studies, e.g. C-shape and T-shape (Fig. 1). A theoretical model based on one-dimensional Reynolds equation was made for obtaining the oil film distribution between the rod and the combined seals. Finite element method was used to calculate the contact pressure between the rod and the combined seals. The sealing performance of combined seals was analyzed in terms of the contact pressure, the back-pumping ability, the fluid transport and the net leakage under the conditions of varying the inlet pressure, the frequency of the pressure and the velocity of the rod. The experimental results demonstrated that the velocity of the rod significantly influences the sealing performance of the combined seals. Furthermore, the theoretical analysis on the influence of the rod velocity on the fluid transport was in good agreement to the experimental measurements.