Crankshaft Oil Seal - What Sort Of Labour Is Reasonable?
Discussion
Hi guys, I need to book the Chim in to get the crankshaft oil seal replaced after it was diagnosed a couple of months ago 
(what a boring thing to spend money on!)
What sort of labour is reasonable to pay for this, I appreciate it's a box out and a fairly large job?
Anybody had this done before? Any experiences would be good to hear.
Cheers, Matt.
(what a boring thing to spend money on!)What sort of labour is reasonable to pay for this, I appreciate it's a box out and a fairly large job?
Anybody had this done before? Any experiences would be good to hear.
Cheers, Matt.
Chuffmeister said:
Gearbox out job. 3-4 hours labour I should imagine + parts. May as well do the crucifix seal for the rear bearing cap whilst in there.
Anything else recommended? My Garage has the seal in now waiting to be fitted to my car. If there's any other recommended maintenance they can do while they are at it, would be good to get it done.Seal from rear of gearbox to propshaft, propshaft UJ's if they've not been done, gearbox mounting rubber and exhaust plate mounting rubbers if perished. Whilst you're under there, maybe do the rear droplinks. New gearbox ATF too! All minor jobs. It may also be worth a good clean and paint of the chassis in those areas. Don't start a list, otherwise you'll just get depressed!
Chuffmeister said:
Gearbox out job. 3-4 hours labour I should imagine + parts. May as well do the crucifix seal for the rear bearing cap whilst in there.
That would be a superhuman effort...++ Flywheel out, sump off, crank carefully dropped on other 4 caps so you can get the rear seal out, never mind the fight to get the rear cap off... clean out all the old seals. Not forgetting that you need to hold the engine up ~ once the box is off it will just spin on the front mounts (held up by loom & petrol pipes possibly
) ~ and you can't put a jack under it as you need to work in that area....Oh if it was such a simple life as is often made out
phazed said:
Simon, (Saronicus) and I did my 4.6 and didn't disturb the crank.
A good half days work for us.
be aware that there are a load of Chinese rubber crucifix seals around that shrink and leak again!
Get a pair from Powers or Turner Engineering or it'll leak again!
Have to agree with Spend/Dave though the engine does fall backwards Peter and I wedges some material between the exhaust manifolds and chassis and eased it back/wedged the chassis is narrower on that part A good half days work for us.
be aware that there are a load of Chinese rubber crucifix seals around that shrink and leak again!
Get a pair from Powers or Turner Engineering or it'll leak again!
I fitted the oil seal on the crank 1st making sure not to displace the lip spring before offering up the main cap with the crucifix seals smeared with sealer then sending the oil seal all the way home into its recess before torquing main cap up, the result bone dry as expected always helps when you have an extra pair of savvy hands about when stripping & fitting all the associated bits and pieces though i.e Peter its not like he isn't familiar with the Chimaera is it? 
What I should of added is ......... I wouldn't dream of curing an oil leak in that area now on the RV8 without changing those cruciform seals i.e removing the main cap unless I knew their history, it was in fact Peter who educated me about some poor cruciform seals out there known to shrink thus causing irritating oil leaks 
call it over kill but I detest doing jobs twice 
call it over kill but I detest doing jobs twice [quote=phazed... load of Chinese rubber crucifix seals around that shrink.....!
[/quote]
Try cleaning the seats of good used seals in-situ ready for new ones, that must be nearly 3 hours work itself in my book!! It's as bad as cleaning of silicone adhesive but in microscopic detail with awful access.... If the surfaces aren't cleaned so the seals can all sit flush you will just get the problem again IMHO. Maybe the 'Chinese' seals probably made your job far easier than usual Peter / Simon ????
[/quote]
Try cleaning the seats of good used seals in-situ ready for new ones, that must be nearly 3 hours work itself in my book!! It's as bad as cleaning of silicone adhesive but in microscopic detail with awful access.... If the surfaces aren't cleaned so the seals can all sit flush you will just get the problem again IMHO. Maybe the 'Chinese' seals probably made your job far easier than usual Peter / Simon ????
Dave, I recently threw away the Chinese seals as the had been sitting on my desk for about 18 months!
When compared to a good seal they were about 5-10% smaller all round.
Speaking to Turner Engineering at the time, they had real problems locating a "good" supply for their own rebuilds.
They said that suppliers would switch their sources due to supply and hadn't realised that the new seals were inferior!
When compared to a good seal they were about 5-10% smaller all round.
Speaking to Turner Engineering at the time, they had real problems locating a "good" supply for their own rebuilds.
They said that suppliers would switch their sources due to supply and hadn't realised that the new seals were inferior!
spend said:
Try cleaning the seats of good used seals in-situ ready for new ones, that must be nearly 3 hours work itself in my book!! It's as bad as cleaning of silicone adhesive but in microscopic detail with awful access.... If the surfaces aren't cleaned so the seals can all sit flush you will just get the problem again IMHO. Maybe the 'Chinese' seals probably made your job far easier than usual Peter / Simon ????
Must say Dave I had no such worries with the one's in my Reinz lower set a smear of Wurth RTV and I was good to go similar to Peters preferred Dirko RTV I like both its not like your bathroom variety either 
not that I am inferring you use black silicone in your bathroom Dave 
I did notice the machine finish in the main gap grooves that locate said seals is a bit s
t though IMO I think you 2 maybe missing the point....
Good seals after 10/15 years in the engine don't just come out & leave a nice metal surface... They can take a lot of digging out & cleaning up. You hardly ever have this to face in a rebuild as most will have the block chemically cleaned which invariably does the clean-up for you.
If you put new seals into 'dirty / gummy residue stuck on' metal they just won't do the job so well. As I said some of those original cruciform seals come out & leave behind what looks like the silicone you have to pick off the windscreen / clutch cover / brake seal... after the workshops let the saturday YOPs loose with a box of adhesive tubes
Peters crap seals probably went in after a chemically cleaned block and their shrinking meant they came out leaving an 'as new' surface, so you were lucky in that respect, don't expect others to have such 'luck'. Getting the seals into as well a prepared seat as possible is the crucial part of the job IMO ~ I know others use liberal sealants, bearing goo..., that's fine but they are just 'bridging' the imperfections & the less used the BETTER they will work & last (less is more IYSWIM).
Good seals after 10/15 years in the engine don't just come out & leave a nice metal surface... They can take a lot of digging out & cleaning up. You hardly ever have this to face in a rebuild as most will have the block chemically cleaned which invariably does the clean-up for you.
If you put new seals into 'dirty / gummy residue stuck on' metal they just won't do the job so well. As I said some of those original cruciform seals come out & leave behind what looks like the silicone you have to pick off the windscreen / clutch cover / brake seal... after the workshops let the saturday YOPs loose with a box of adhesive tubes
Peters crap seals probably went in after a chemically cleaned block and their shrinking meant they came out leaving an 'as new' surface, so you were lucky in that respect, don't expect others to have such 'luck'. Getting the seals into as well a prepared seat as possible is the crucial part of the job IMO ~ I know others use liberal sealants, bearing goo..., that's fine but they are just 'bridging' the imperfections & the less used the BETTER they will work & last (less is more IYSWIM).
spend said:
I think you 2 maybe missing the point....
Good seals after 10/15 years in the engine don't just come out & leave a nice metal surface... They can take a lot of digging out & cleaning up. You hardly ever have this to face in a rebuild as most will have the block chemically cleaned which invariably does the clean-up for you.
If you put new seals into 'dirty / gummy residue stuck on' metal they just won't do the job so well. As I said some of those original cruciform seals come out & leave behind what looks like the silicone you have to pick off the windscreen / clutch cover / brake seal... after the workshops let the saturday YOPs loose with a box of adhesive tubes
Peters crap seals probably went in after a chemically cleaned block and their shrinking meant they came out leaving an 'as new' surface, so you were lucky in that respect, don't expect others to have such 'luck'. Getting the seals into as well a prepared seat as possible is the crucial part of the job IMO ~ I know others use liberal sealants, bearing goo..., that's fine but they are just 'bridging' the imperfections & the less used the BETTER they will work & last (less is more IYSWIM).
Making sure everything is spotless before install is obvoius I would have thought Dave otherwise its just a bad job Good seals after 10/15 years in the engine don't just come out & leave a nice metal surface... They can take a lot of digging out & cleaning up. You hardly ever have this to face in a rebuild as most will have the block chemically cleaned which invariably does the clean-up for you.
If you put new seals into 'dirty / gummy residue stuck on' metal they just won't do the job so well. As I said some of those original cruciform seals come out & leave behind what looks like the silicone you have to pick off the windscreen / clutch cover / brake seal... after the workshops let the saturday YOPs loose with a box of adhesive tubes
Peters crap seals probably went in after a chemically cleaned block and their shrinking meant they came out leaving an 'as new' surface, so you were lucky in that respect, don't expect others to have such 'luck'. Getting the seals into as well a prepared seat as possible is the crucial part of the job IMO ~ I know others use liberal sealants, bearing goo..., that's fine but they are just 'bridging' the imperfections & the less used the BETTER they will work & last (less is more IYSWIM).
although I can see why you have highlighted this judging by some of the shoddy builds I have witnessed we wont even get started on Peters previous out sourced woes there is only one cleanliness as far as I am concerned Edited by Sardonicus on Thursday 15th January 13:44
mattgtd said:
Hi guys, I need to book the Chim in to get the crankshaft oil seal replaced after it was diagnosed a couple of months ago (what a boring thing to spend money on!)
What sort of labour is reasonable to pay for this, I appreciate it's a box out and a fairly large job?
Anybody had this done before? Any experiences would be good to hear.
Cheers, Matt.
So back to the question man hours ???? its all dependant on a good job or a bodged job basically, you would like to think a good job would cost more but you have piece of mind and if you have been quoted a cheap price, then its cheap for a reason:0 (what a boring thing to spend money on!)What sort of labour is reasonable to pay for this, I appreciate it's a box out and a fairly large job?
Anybody had this done before? Any experiences would be good to hear.
Cheers, Matt.
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