The original rebuild was done with such love and care that I couldn’t believe it leaked. Second time round I thought putting the seal in a different position would be the only answer. The pushrod seals and rocker covers leaked as well.
Mine was done cunningly by Rob who built the engine and didn't leak (much) despite a really knackered flywheel. Then while swapping gearboxes another seal was fitted without much thought and leaked like a sieve. I got a better flywheel but it still had a slight groove and a patch where it was pitted. I avoided those by calculation and measurement, choosing a seal that would bottom out with the lip running on a completely smooth part. Got there in the end.
My push rod tubes were leaking a bit. Some judicial twisting had solved most of the leaks but not all. I've ordered the parts and fingers crossed, won't have a soggy bottom second time round
Same. Quick twist of pushrods and second set of rocker gaskets. Wait ten years then replace crank seal
So I thought I'd ordered the more expensive Victor Reinz seal, even their confirmation email shows a picture of the VR, but the small print says they will send either a VR or an Elring, whatever they have in stock...be aware people....they have offered a refund if I send it back.
The Elring will be fine – it’s just a single lip rotary seal, there is nothing special about Victor Reinz.
Latest update. The engine is back in and started first time, which is nice. I used the Elring seal and pushed it back to the lip. Discovered that the old seal is the perfect tool to help push the new seal in with gentle persuasion. Also discovered that to put the oil filler tube back, it helps to support the engine and drop the engine mount on that side, makes it quite easy. All in all a good day, just going to leave it overnight to see if I get any oil leaks from the seal (fingers crossed not) or the push rod tubes (probably, but resolvable). Time for
I thought it was all good, so I put all of the engine bits back together, but the oil leak from bell case/engine joint is back - a few drops but engine oil all the same. Q lots of blue words I'm going to take the camper out tomorrow for a drive and then I'll see what the situations is! The push rod tubes on the right are a bit wet but the left ones are OK. That at least is good news. Any suggestions about what I can do other than taking the engine out again...which I really don't want to do - honestly stumped tonight.
It might not be leaking from the seal; it could be from an oil gallery plug. I can’t remember, did you drill and tap the oil galleries?
Thanks Geoff and yes I did get them drilled and sealed professionally. I took a few photos as I took the flywheel off to get to the old leaking seal, not my best shots - any clues or thoughts?
New cam plug as well. I got the leak after running the engine for about 10 mins to warm up and sort timing out before I was going to take it for a drive. The later part of that plan was abandoned. I'll see how much oil leaks out overnight and take it for a drive tomorrow and decide what to do next.
I found this photo. It looks like the previous seal leaked. The snail trail starting at the centre and moved down towards the bottom left of the photo .
The trail would end up there if the leak were further up the split line. The case has damage on the lower bellhousing, was it checked for cracks? I can’t see anything obviously wrong, but if you remove the engine again, I suggest you remove the gallery plugs and re-seal them. The cam plug has little pressure behind it and I doubt if it is leaking – but it’s possible. When you fit the seals do you put a smear of sealant on the casing split line top and bottom?
Long shot... It's hard to see on phone, but the flywheel looks like the seal has been contacting a wide band? If that's correct and you do remove the engine again, measure that diameter on the flywheel.
Sorry, I may be misunderstanding you. Do you mean the seal was riding up the neck of the flywheel? If so, the new seal is push right to the back lip so 2mm further in and as far as a 10mm seal will go. Separately, I checkedthe mating surface of the case halves where they form the seal area and could not feel any edge there.
