[TR] Leaking rear seal on my TR3A's engine

[Tony Drews]

If you use a washer, make sure it's hardened.  If not it will wear and 
your flywheel will get loose.  Not good.

Cheers, Tony Drews

On 2/12/2025 4:41 PM, Frank Fisher wrote:
> Gerald
> thank you for your comment #1.
> and to those who have seen my last 2 responses, the interference is a 
> Gerald remained me.
> i did not grind the flywheel bolts, i just added a washer under the head.
> the memory is fickle thing eh?
>
> Frank
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 08:40:45 AM PST, Gerald Van Vlack 
> <jerryvvtr4a at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'm following this rear seal thread and need to comment.  The newest 
> seal design works well with a few items that need followed in 
> conjunction with it's install.
>
> 1.
>     Be certain that the flywheel bolts do not cut into the installed
>     seal. If using the ARP bolts they need to be shortened a small
>     amount by grinding the ends slightly. I don't know if the stock
>     bolts need the same modification but worth inspecting to be sure.
> 2.
>     The best seal will be blamed for a leak when in fact it's not the
>     source of the leak. When installing the rear main bearing cap very
>     careful attention needs to be paid to sealing the cap to the
>     block. That large rectangular slot that requires a rope seal
>     pounded into it if not sealed well enough will leak and frequently
>     is the source of oil being seen dripping from the hole in the
>     bellhousing. And then folks blame the rear main seal when in fact
>     it's that interface between the block and cap that is the source
>     of the leak.
>
> My comment is don't blame the crank seal in many cases.
>
> JVV
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Triumphs <triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Dave 
> MacKay <dave at mdmackay.ca>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 12, 2025 10:39 AM
> *To:* triumphs at autox.team.net <triumphs at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* [TR] Leaking rear seal on my TR3A's engine
> I followed the recent exchange about “TR Rear Crank Seal Rope?” with
> interest and corresponded with all who replied to the OP. That has me
> thinking about how I might address my situation.
>
> In 2008, the engine in my TR3A was rebuilt. As part of that effort an OIL
> SEAL CONVERSION KIT was fitted. The conversion required that the scroll on
> the crankshaft be ground down. It has always leaked.
>
> I had convinced myself that fixing the leak would be too much trouble and
> too expensive to be worth doing. I envisioned having to replace the
> crankshaft and then using a more modern conversion (Moss 837-160). I
> wanted to check with the list to see if that’s the case or not.
>
> I believe --- but am not certain --- that the conversion was sourced from
> Moss (perhaps p/n 837-006). I am aware that incorrect instructions were
> provided with some of the conversion kits so that the crankshafts were
> ground too small. I don’t know if that’s the case with my conversion: the
> crank may have been ground to the correct dimensions, or it might not have
> been.
>
> I have three questions:
>
> 1) Is there a way to check the crankshaft dimensions to see what it has
> been ground to that doesn’t require pulling the engine? I’d like to know
> if the crank had to ground to the correct dimensions or not.
>
> 2) If the crankshaft was ground to the wrong dimensions, is there a way to
> fix it (e.g., special seal) short of replacing the crankshaft? Replacement
> crankshafts are scarce and quite expensive (>USD$1600).
>
> 3) If the crankshaft was ground to the correct dimensions, what have
> others done to keep that oil seal conversion from leaking?
>
> I’d welcome any input from those on this list.
>
> Dave MacKay
> 1960 Triumph TR3A, s/n 68639L
> near Toronto, Canada
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