[TR] Oil Leaks from the Wet Sleeve Engine.

[Joe Alexander]

List

Re: Recent discussions on Oil Leaks.

Oil leaks occur everywhere there is an opening in this engine and it tends to migrate to the transmission bell housing.

Kas Kastner has a book that contains a chapter on Avoiding Oil Leaks in the Wet Sleeve Engine. The one chapter is worth the price. (I have it discounted on EBay and Amazon) "Kas Kastner's Triumphs".

One suggestion that Kas offered to me, was wiping the engine completely down with lacquer thinner. Drive a short distance and inspect. Keep driving and inspecting. Eventually it will reveal its true location. Simple enough, eh?

As you already know, the list of possibilities are just huge, and sometimes difficult to detect.

At the front of the engine, at the top of the engine, every drilled and tapped hole in block........

A big offender is the felt seal at the rear bearing block. There is a very careful but effective procedure for this. Mine is to tap well soaked felt in short strips until the sealant extrudes from the bearing block seams. 100% extrusion.

Yes, the Marx Viton Seal can be a long term improvement, if installed properly. But everything else needs to be attended to. It has become the new standard in seal replacement. 

Buy the book, you won't regret it. Kas has no plans to reprint any of his books, and when they are gone, they are gone.

Buy the Viton Seal. Viton lips seals are routinely used in John Deere tractors. They are durable and heat resistant at higher RPMs. An example of New Technology.

Yes, we import these seals, so the message is somewhat commercial. But I am in the same boat as you with three wet sleeve Triumph engines. (20 more kits are in the mail from Germany.)

BTW, under development is silicone gaskets for Triumph pans and timing covers. This is in addition to the valve cover gaskets sold under the Gasket Innovations brand.

A final word....if you are using a synthetic or semi-synthetic oil, the use of superior sealing techniques and technologies because even more important.

Still learning after 50+ years. And dad was a farm implement dealer. Lots of wet sleeve engines in my past. I got to steam clean them, among other dirty jobs.

Regards,

Joe Alexander/A.R.E.
4505 Donald Drive
Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
The-vintage-racer.com
Gasketinnovations.com
Cell:  319.464.4711