boatman.robin

Finally pulled that oil separator / breather out today. It was a bit blocked but not too terrible. I plunged it in a bucket of soapy hot water and quickly pushed a finger in and out of the engine side hole (I tried really hard to formulate this in a way that doesn’t sound sexual). It worked really well as I could see a jet of water coming out the exit pipe. @Tony Brooks I could feel the mesh and it seemed in good condition so I will avoid popping the can open for now, but thank you for the recommendation! I also cleaned my air filter holder which was very oily and the flexible hose. The whole shabang is now drying. Fingers crossed it does the trick!

Thank you for thanking me! By the way, as I think it could be useful info for someone with oil leaks as well, it seems my breather is clogged. I am going to take care of it in the afternoon. Not asking for help, just thought I’d mention it for noobs like me as it can be a source of failing seals. best wishes to you all and thanks again for your advice!

😊 hahaha sorry! I also cut back the two bolts on which the washers were lose. They were definitely too long. My engine has a lot of randomly replaced bolts on it… My pleasure, respect has to be paid when people give you their time to help

Hey everyone, So i finished that repair last week. The back plate was actually where it needed to be. That gap between the seal and the crankshaft was just an optical illusion due to the fact that the seal is tapered inside. To insert the seal I used a hole saw that happened to be the right diameter and protected the new seal from the teeth with the old seal. Gently tapping all around with a hammer and the seal went in all right. Thank you all for your input, I learnt a lot!

Everything is still apart so I can get straight into it. Good call about using the old seal!

Thank you Tracy. That’s now 3 people concurring on the issue. It’s good to know what I’m chasing!

This makes so much sense! I have not seen the crankshaft yet. I imagine you suggest that it is really strongly bolted. I just talked to another mechanic who says you’ve given me good advice and I should investigate what you suggest. I will do that and post my findings here so it can help someone else in the future.

Good advice. I should’ve mentioned it earlier but there was rattling in the bell housing when the engine ran and I did find a broken spring in the bell housing wish a imagine comes from the starter (which surprisingly works fine). I guess it’s possible that the bits of spring got in the way of the flywheel spinning and knocked it out of axis.

The old seal doesn’t seem evenly worn so it is very possible that something is misaligned indeed. God this might be turning into a far mor extensive repair than I previously thought… I have been using a really big ratchet strap to support the engine on the floor beams when taking out the bell housing as two of the engine mounts are on the bell housing. That back plate ensures that the strap doesn’t slip so if I was to remove it I would have to completely take the engine out I guess… Thanks again Tony, I remember reading your website in the past. Kudos for sharing useful info for newbies like me!

Hey Tony, cheers for the response. I don’t have the option to take the engine out in the near future, but I could try and crawl underneath and get the sump off. When you say rear main, is that main bearing? Hot engine pressure is 50/60psi. I can’t see anything in the manual about any other seals in the manual. Attached is the diagrams and the crankshaft removal / refitting procedure. The only seal they mention is the one I’m trying to change.

Hi everyone, I am in the process of changing the rear crankshaft oil seal on my engine. Gaining access to the seal is a mission so I want to make sure I do it well, and to be honest I have already messed up a brand new seal that got stuck on a slight angle despite all my most gentle efforts. I have seen that some models have a bolted flange that you can just put the seal into with a bit of RTV and that flange will guide the seal nicely around the crankshaft. My engine does not have that. Some engines have a wear sleeve around the crankshaft. Not mine as far as I can tell. 1. Is there a trick to getting the seal on uniformly without a special tool? 2. Is my engine missing any parts from previous dodgy repairs? It seems the seal is not quite touching the visible part of the shaft that has the bolts holes on when in place. 3. Below the shaft there are 2 bolts. I have noticed that the washers on those bolts are free to spin but the bolts seem tight so maybe they are too long. I fear that oil is coming through those as well. Can I change them or do they hold something inside that will fall if I take them out? Can I seal them with RTV? Attached are a few pictures, Thank you for your time!