Oil leak

[sheel]

Guys,got a persistent oil leak at the rear of the sump area following engine works.
Sump off and refitted twice with the silicone gasket type of install....no good
Sump off and fitted with rubber gasket,smear of silicone both sides of rubber gasket,rear sump bolts cleaned and sealed with hylomar....still leaking at rear
My thoughts are crucifix rubbers,I replaced these during the build,but I'm not sure if I left them protruding a bit as apparently they are supposed to,so the question is, if I am carefull and has anyone done it, can I drop the rear main bearing cap and replace the seals in situ,hopefully the rear main crank seal should all stay in place and maybe this will cure this annoying problem...thoughts ?
Rich

[sheel]

Richard 858 said:

I'm afraid I can't help with this one Rich, never had to do it myself. Did you manage to get it to the MOT ? I think you were hoping to make it in the last couple of days.

[sheel]

Hi rich,been a bit up and down with the big c this week,done well but decided not to rush it and try and bottom out some of the little jobs,a week later for the mot is nothing compared to the last 18 months of it being in bits,plus we are dealing with sheila now as well,thought tvr ownership was stressful!
The oil leak is just a ball ache and I won't be happy if I can't stop it,will get some pics up soon especially pleased with the interior,looks classic,classy but very modern,difficult to explain but looks Mercedes ilk, a nice place to be

[sheel]

Sardonicus said:

Once you have disturbed the rear crank seal you got to replace it no matter how new you will have 2 pinch marks each side of the seal where it meets the block & cap for starters and it will form to its aperture which as you can appreciate is possibly slightly out of round, if its def from this area and not a leaking valley gasket for example its engine out or box out I'm afraid then it can be sorted by just removing the rear main I would always back up those crucifix seals with a smear of non hardening jointing compound even just to aid not snagging the seals on refitting the rear cap this is mine and yes I used a sealer on the crucifix seals you dont need to go mad but I think you would be daft to apply them dry (note pinch area's) ...............

Edited by Sardonicus on Saturday 6th February 09:47

I was hoping that if I were careful the rear mail oil seal would remain undisturbed,being retained by the crank up against the engine block above,this was all replaced when the engine was in bits last year and I seem to remember thinking the crucifix seal were not much of a fit in the block,I reckon I did put a smear of blue hylomar on them in the build.
If you had a leaking rear main oil seal and you took it to a garage,obviously they would take either the box or engine out to do it but would they the sump and replace the crucifix seals due to the disturbance or just hook the old seal out and bang a new one in with a drift ?
I will check the valley gasket,but this was a good one and had a smear of hylomar during the build as well,bloody pain but thanks for your info
Rich

[sheel]

Well typical me, went against the advice and stripped the sump and end mains block, replaced the crucifix seals applied hylomar to all the right places and reassembled, was very careful as the mains block went back in but ran it today and all seems ok apart from a little weep on the front of the sump now!!! not too bothered about that as at least its not as bad as the rear leaking and its not the valley gaskets or rear main seal!!!
On the previous sump removal, I invested in a thick rubber gasket as Im not really a fan of silicone, when I fitted it I put a thin smear of silicone both sides, it was on the car for a week and when I dropped the sump again it literally fell apart.... that was a waste of £12, perhaps it didn't like the application of silicone as well!!!
Rich

[sheel]

Yep, chanced it!! It was a new seal when I reassembled it all, could feel the mains block just kissing the seal as it went back in, got to have a bit of luck sometimes!!
You wont have a problem if you are taking the gearbox out
Rich

[sheel]

ok guys back to this one as part of the snagging process:
I understand most use silicone to seal the sump, is there a particular process/way of doing this and also any particular brand of silicone
I did try a rubber gasket but this lasted a week before it fell apart, think this may have been down to sticking it on with silicone....think there was a reaction

Rich

[sheel]

Thanks N7, is there a particular way of doing this such as apply and let it go off a bit or put it together wet and don't tighten till next day?
Rich

[sheel]

Thanks N7 order placed, just goes against my trained engineering background!!
There is another one you may like all fitted to FTD standards.........fkit that will do!!!!
Rich