RV8 cruciform seal installation?

[geeman237]

What’s the technique to install the rear main cap and cruciform seals on a Rover V8? The new pair I went to fit stood quite proud of the side face of the cap and when I attempted to squeeze the cap into the block I bloody tore the seals. I did oil them.
Photo of offending item (90* off)

[Boosted LS1]

I think you're meant to leave the seal standing proud a couple of mm's but that said, many folks trim them flush. Also use anaerobic sealer on the flange faces.

[227bhp]

Can you file a chamfer to lead it in?

[Mignon]

Lots of oil and a couple of feeler guage blades to guide them in.

[Sardonicus]

No oil but a smear of decent RTV Reinzosil etc and feeler blades as mentioned above, no issues done this way and no tear however dont assemble with no sealer you will regret it be aware that there are many Mickey Mouse generic/quality versions of these that are ste & shrink and fail rapidly , Elring or Victor Reinz get my vote

[geeman237]

Thanks for the input. I have the Land Rover engine manual. It states to apply sealant as shown in the attached photo, (red lines)

[Sardonicus]

My cents worth , none where the crosses are no need just the green marked

[Boosted LS1]

I put sealant on the horizontal joint face outboard of the seals. The cruciform seals take care of sealing the vertical part of the joint.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Monday 18th February 16:00

[paintman]

From the LR manual for my RRC (LR SRR660ENWM)
Do not cut the side seals, they must protrude 1.5mm approx.
Lubricate with clean engine oil (although as mentioned above there are likely to be other solutions which may work better!)
Apply HylomarPL32M jointing compound to the rearmost half of the bearing cap parting face - or to the block if preferred.

I presume yours also tells you that after successfully fitting the cap to the engine you need to nip up the fixing bolts & tension equally by 1/4 of a turn each then back off by one complete turn each to fit the oil seal.
The seal outside diameter must be clean & dry.
Once the seal is fitted the cap bolts need to be torqued up.

When I last did mine I also ran a bead of silicone around the edge of the seal & block/cap once it was all torqued up. Probably totally unnecessary but it hasn't moved - yet!

ETA And yes, genuine or good quality parts ONLY. Some of the pattern seals/gaskets are absolute stparts.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 19th February 15:29

[Mignon]

Boosted LS1 said:

I put sealant on the horizontal joint face outboard of the seals. The cruciform seals take care of sealing the vertical part of the joint.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Monday 18th February 16:00

This.

[geeman237]

Job done. I ordered 2 sets of new seals, one genuine Land Rover and one aftermarket (Made in Taiwan). Difference in quality side by side was noticeable. LR seals had much better molding definition, felt like better quality material, more pliable and overall more consistent if that makes sense.
I tried the feeler gauge method, but they kept sliding out. I did apply a smear of Shell Retinax red grease along the length of the seal and was able to get the main cap started using the feeler gauges. Very gently the main cap slid into place. I used Permatex Grey Gasket Sealant, placed as per the Land Rover manual instructions. I also fitted a new rear main seal, made sure the block and end cap seal surfaces were free of oil/grease. Slid the seal on and actually then fitted the main cap. Pushed everything fully home, then tightened the bolts to 10 lb ft, checked everything again and progressively torqued in increments to the final torque setting.
Fingers crossed that's going to work.
Now onto the camshaft, checking its timing and tappet preload......
(Based in the US and actually working on a 1992 Griffith 4.0)