>When I bought the car the rear engine seal was leaking like a sieve. >Pulled
>the engine and replaced the seal without pulling out the crank shaft. The
>manual talks about proper alignment being critical but I figured the crank >was
>the perfect alignment tool since it was exactly where it should be. Fired >up
>the engine a few weeks ago for the first time since I had it out. Some
>leaks,thought it was oil pan, reset. Tonight there are still some drops of >oil
>coming off the back of the pan. Did I do something wrong with the seal???? >Am
>not looking forward to pulling engine again.
Dave,
Are you sure the drops are comming off the back of the pan and not the weep
hole in the bottom of the bell housing?
I, with the engine in the car, replaced all the bearings in the bottom end
of my TR3A. Because I have a TR4 tranny I had to pull the tranny to change
out the rear main bearing (another story.) The bottom half of the rear main
seal attached to the rear main cap was pretty worn, so I replaced the seal.
BIG MISTAKE.
I spent 5 hours shimming and checking; bending and aligning to get the rear
main seal perfect. I am certain that it was set as close as possible, but I
still have a leak through to the bell housing, where it drains. My clutch
does get a little sticky sometimes, at low rpms, but it is livable until I
can get the time and funds to completely rebuild the engine, pull the crank
and install the "modern" lip seal upgrade.
It is now my understanding, from listers and personnal experience, that the
rear seal cannot be accurately set with the crank in the car.
In that same area, the back of the engine, you have the sealing felts in the
sides of the rear main cap, which makes up the rear of the block. A leak
here would drain over the rear of the engine, exactly as would the leaky
rear main, or a leaking freeze plug. I would guess it is your main seal
though, especially if you reset it with the crank in the car.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have elected to live with the leak
until a major engine overhaul, hopefully within the next five years, when I
will install the Moss/others modern rear main seal.
Jack Brooks
TS69032L
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