Matthew89
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Mississippi
'99 w/ inline 6. Lots of heartbreak today as I just wrapped up my RMS job and realized I have a pretty bad leak. It was a small drip before so figured I'd finally take care of it (right before a big trip like a dumbarse) and now it's quite a bit worse. Wish I had just left it alone.
To save some time, here's what I did once I had access to my bearing caps: I dropped the rear one and gave the upper seal some light taps with a small flat punch. It didn't move and I was really afraid of my punch slipping and damaging the crankshaft. So I loosened up on the next few bearing caps until I was able to simply push the upper seal out by hand with the punch. I then moved to the lower seal. When I pulled it out it left a lot of material behind. I very carefully scraped out the groove with my pocket knife (the edge, not the point). Wondering if I screwed up here, but I was really tedious and didn't gouge the metal.. But I'm obviously questioning it now.
On to install: I soaped the backside of the upper seal and applied motor oil to the inside. Installed it as instructed without much trouble. On the bottom seal, i lightly soaped it's outside as well, applied a small amount of RTV to the ends, and put a light coat of oil on the contact portion. I put assembly lube on the bearing and put it all back together. 80 ft lbs on the bearing caps.
I put it all back together, filled her up, and started it. I let it run for several minutes. Oil pressure looked great and there was not a single sign of leaking below. However when I went for my victory drive, I returned to find a really steady drip coming from between the transmission and the cover plate that sits between the engine and tranny. I threw a pan under it and went to get a beer and cry a bit.
The leak subsided within about 10 minutes of letting it rest, but I feel pretty confident it'll come right back if I drive it again. Although I'm willing to test that if any of you think I should for some reason.
What could I have done so wrong? I really took my time and followed several resources- Haynes and the write up by 5-90 on here. This is not my first big job, but it was my first RMS.
I've still got time to do it again before the trip, but apparently I'm missing something here. If anyone has ideas, suggestions, questions, etc. I'll be watching closely. I've got to either get this straightened out or book a flight, and I hate flying.
Thanks guys.
Edit: one other thing is I may have let the RTV setup too long before putting the lower cap back on. It was still tacky but not right out of the tube. Also wondering if I used enough. I didn't goop it on. Could a poor RTV job be the culprit, I wonder? Just a thought.
To save some time, here's what I did once I had access to my bearing caps: I dropped the rear one and gave the upper seal some light taps with a small flat punch. It didn't move and I was really afraid of my punch slipping and damaging the crankshaft. So I loosened up on the next few bearing caps until I was able to simply push the upper seal out by hand with the punch. I then moved to the lower seal. When I pulled it out it left a lot of material behind. I very carefully scraped out the groove with my pocket knife (the edge, not the point). Wondering if I screwed up here, but I was really tedious and didn't gouge the metal.. But I'm obviously questioning it now.
On to install: I soaped the backside of the upper seal and applied motor oil to the inside. Installed it as instructed without much trouble. On the bottom seal, i lightly soaped it's outside as well, applied a small amount of RTV to the ends, and put a light coat of oil on the contact portion. I put assembly lube on the bearing and put it all back together. 80 ft lbs on the bearing caps.
I put it all back together, filled her up, and started it. I let it run for several minutes. Oil pressure looked great and there was not a single sign of leaking below. However when I went for my victory drive, I returned to find a really steady drip coming from between the transmission and the cover plate that sits between the engine and tranny. I threw a pan under it and went to get a beer and cry a bit.
The leak subsided within about 10 minutes of letting it rest, but I feel pretty confident it'll come right back if I drive it again. Although I'm willing to test that if any of you think I should for some reason.
What could I have done so wrong? I really took my time and followed several resources- Haynes and the write up by 5-90 on here. This is not my first big job, but it was my first RMS.
I've still got time to do it again before the trip, but apparently I'm missing something here. If anyone has ideas, suggestions, questions, etc. I'll be watching closely. I've got to either get this straightened out or book a flight, and I hate flying.
Thanks guys.
Edit: one other thing is I may have let the RTV setup too long before putting the lower cap back on. It was still tacky but not right out of the tube. Also wondering if I used enough. I didn't goop it on. Could a poor RTV job be the culprit, I wonder? Just a thought.
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