View single post by Dan (Florida)
 Posted: 05-08-2012 05:45 pm
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Dan (Florida)

 

Joined: 03-16-2005
Location: Ormond Beach, Florida USA
Posts: 97
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Had this joy a year ago and found no advice that worked. The problem is that the seal rope is just too small for the groove it sits in and just mashing it in with the crank shaft wont solve the leak. Plus the seal needs to be mashed in first and then trimmed with a little sticking up on the ends. Thats very hard to do with  the crankshaft in place. No room to trim. I built a pressing tool that allows you to press and trim at the same time . Its just a piece of round stock machined to the same diameter as the  crankshaft bearing journal .  After pressing and trimming there will likely be a void between the seal and the bottom of the groove it rides in. This space must be filled in with some sort of shimming material (brass or aluminum)that will support the back of the seal when it gets hot. Shim this groove until the crankshaft binds and then remove until it spins freely.  Soaking in oil doesn't seem to work.  I cant stress enough doing a good job on this as the engine has to come back out and disassembled to change   this seal.  Not fun.

This rope seal is made by Ford Motor company. Things that say Ford are about one fourth the cost of those that say Lotus or Jaguar.

Also make sure the main bearing clearance is minimal to prevent the crank from whipping around.

hth  Dan