Oil Leak

[Leatherneck]

I had a oil leak, thought t was from the rear cam studs. Fixed those, replaced all seals, etc. put engine back together, ran the engine to op temp and nada, went for a run and came back to oil leak.

Guess I'll pull it again and see if crank seal is damaged. If that isn't it it must be a crack in the case.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.


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[Weaponer]

Clean your engine, then use this.

[Leatherneck]

Pulled the engine again. Pic shows what the leak is. Am I not pushing the seal in far enough? It is just barely past the outer edge. I'm doing something wrong.

[Leatherneck]

Checked the endplay. It is at 5 thousands. 4to 6 is good yes? Somebody said up to 8. Unless somebody knows why it tore I think I needed to set the seal all the way in against the stop. Any other ideas?

[Marc]

Seal shouldn't tear at any depth, what are you using to drive it in? Is it going in nice & square or is it cocking on you? If your "driver" of choice is too small in diameter and pushes against the seal inboard of where the steel is inside it can start a tear in the rubber.

Preferred depth is all the way against the stop, but in cases where the flywheel has wear at one spot I've often intentionally put the seal in "shallow" to place the lip(s) against a fresh place on the 'wheel and never had that cause leakage. If it's not a snug fit in the case I'll run some RTV around the O.D. as insurance against it walking out, but as a rule the seal goes in "dry" - then a few drops of oil spread around the lip before putting the flywheel on.
Make sure that the O-ring's still good, if it leaks the clutch will get oiled down.

I usually shoot for a snug .004" when setting initial endplay, .005" is quite acceptable and you don't ever want to re-shim a used engine for less than it has unless you're 100% certain that none of it is between the bearing and case.

#1 place for a crack in the case is vertically right about at the base of #3 (just "below" the end of the head studs). The "sunken-stud" mod that started c1971 anchors the upper stud more deeply in the case which greatly reduces the incidence of a crack here. We had one once that still had a leak after three attempts at replacing the seal, there was no visible crack...put the center of an AutoStick flexplate on it and fired it up on the floor with a rope, and sure as sh*t you could see the crack open up when revved. Gained R's like a sprintcar

[Leatherneck]

That is what you call a lightened flywheel huh?

When I buy a seal I will see if they have a legit driver for it. Flywheel is few hundred miles from being new, replaced the O-Ring when I put the last rear seal in, will add another O-Ring this time too. I will go slow in putting in the seal, 2nd time to do this in as many weeks. Tired of pulling the engine but more tired of the oil leak. THanks Marc!

[Piledriver]

Buy a factory seal. They exist. They don't even cost much more, and sometimes less than the "good" Victor-Reinz flavor.

I have been (gently) driving seals in with a hammer for almost 40 years without issues.
I have tried the correct driver and screw in type installer, they work little>no better.

Goes in dry, if you use any sealant on it before install, it will fight back, want to pop back out.
Drive it all the way in. (ah, what Marc said)
As long as you go in straight and don't dork it it will work fine.

Oil the lip before the flywheel goes in, (very easy to forget, and skipping it can cause tears like that)
...and the seal surface on flywheel may do well being getting a little polish work, the better the finish the better.

Make sure the oil return hole is clear.

[Leatherneck]

So far so good, installed it carefully, lubricated the lip ( didn't do that last time). 2 runs and no leaks. Thanks guys!