Rear crank seal

[Deleted]

I am changing my rear crank seal. When you remove the retainer halves, they are coated in some sort of hard plastic. I am not sure what to do with the coating. The workshop manual don´t say anything. Anybody that knows the right procedure ?

Regards

Lars

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

No reply yet Lars?

You need to bump this up the list so Phil spots it. He doesn't seem to be around as much as he used to be.

[Phil Nottingham]

Not quite ceratin what you mean. The seal which is plastic has this stuck? It has a split in it to fit and teh spring is then fitted.

What year is yours as early P5's had a diffwerent set up

[Deleted]

Hi

It is a 67 mk III automatic, the question was not about the seal but the retainer halves, they are coated in some kind of plastic. We did not know what to do with the coating. We made a decision to leave the coating in place.
We have nearly finished the operation now, we got the gearbox back in place today. It is a two person job to get the gearbox in place.
The oil leak was of epic dimensions, the old seal was stone hard and cracked in several places. I was leaving a trace of oil after me when driving, I think the oil consumption was ca two liter every 20 km and no blue smoke.

[Phil Nottingham]

You have probably done right leaving it - I was still not aware of any factory applied coating to the retainer halves and perhaps this was a failed effort to stop leaks?

Make sure the engine breathers on the tappet covers and underneath the inlet manifild are clear

[Deleted]

Yes, I checked all engine breathers before starting to change the oil seal. It is difficult to get the gearbox out and back in place, we did it from under neat the car, but you have to remove the gearbox tunnel because you have to lift the rear end of the gearbox quite high to get it clear from the engine. I also changed the down shift cable, the old cable was about to brake any minute.
It is a big job to change the rear oil seal so I suppose you try everything before you realize you have no choice but to change it.

Regards

Lars

[Deleted]

This is not going well.
I have cleaned the breathers, I have changed the rear crank seal, I have changed the sump gasket, I have checked the banjo-bolts but my engine is still leaking to much oil. It always drips from the right side of the bell-housing and it is engine oil.
Anyone got any ideas ?

Regards

Lars

[Phil Nottingham]

Have you checked the oil feed union at the cylinder head - this can often leak especially if a new washer is not used. the actual pipe or joint can also fracture (it joins onto the T piece with the oil switch

There is also an O ring in the block/head joint that can only be accessed after head is removed. Can you see if any seepage is coming from the block/head joint?

I cannot think it much else apart from the rear crank seal not assembled properly

[Deleted]

I will check the feed pipe in the head. My nightmare is if we was unable to fit the rear seal properly (we followed the workshop manual) It takes some time to remove the gearbox to get to the rear seal.

[Deleted]

Is the "O" ring part no 532319 in the parts catalogue ? exactly where on the head is the "O" ring ?
When I think about it, the leak started after I had changed the exhaust valve last year.

Lars

[Phil Nottingham]

Correct - its right on the rear of the head in a groove - its often overlooked, its surrounds the oil drain and is only on the last 3 litres. I cannot remember which side it is though.

It hardens and goes flat, headsets contain this item

[Deleted]

Thanks Phil,

I will check if the leak is in the joint between the head and block.

Regards

Lars

[Phil Nottingham]

I have just been out and looked and said O ring is on the rear RIGHT hand side of the engine looking from driving position. The head casting bulges outwards as does the block.

If this was not renewed when the head was removed (shame!!) or the new one was dislodged somehow (unlikely) this could well be the source of your oil leak. This drain does not take oil under pressure but hot thin oil can quickly leak out and it will run down the back of the engine and into and around the bellhousing and around the outside.

You will have to remove the head again and replace the headgasket and the front coolant pump O ring as well as this one but that's easier than taking the engine/gearbox out again.

Let us all know!

If this cures your leak console yourself that teh rear crank oil seal was past it anyway!!

[Ken Nelson]

I rebuilt my 3-litre engine several years ago and replaced the rear seal. The hard plastic coating is part of the design and is intended to be left in place. I had no leaks from the engine after. Wish I could say the same about the power steering box after replacing those seals. Ken

[Deleted]

I think that I have at last managed to get my engine oil tight. Last week we had the head off and renewed the oil drain o-ring.
I have been out driving this weekend and not even a small drip under the bell housing.

Lars

[Phil Nottingham]

That's good - hard to believe such a small item that does not even appear on most IOE engines and not many even know exists can cause such big problems