idosubaru Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 guy i know rebuilt his ER27 and appears his rear main blew out. another guy with an XT Turbo had the same thing happen last year, blew out shortly after installing the new motor. i think...i'll have to clarify, both were during or right after extended highway trips at sustained highway speeds. any ideas or other experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 um yeah its happend to me before. I helped out a friend one time that needed a complete reseal. put it all back together and was delivering it to his house.(his wife was having a baby that night) about 20 miles down the road it poped out making a big mess and smoke screen as the oil got on the hot exhaust. I was determined to deliver the car that night so I limped it off the road and proceded to pull the trans on the side of the road and reinstall the seal. got it back in and deliverd the car. I will never do that again. I have since studied the way the rear main fits in the case closely. If you drive it in flush with the case it is not fully installed. There is a small taper that you must push it past. about an extra mm in past flush. Once the seal is in this far it seats properly and will not pop out. The other reason they pop out is crank case pressure (hence why it happens at highway speed). Make sure the PCV valve and crank case vents are clear and working properly. Hope this saves somone else from redoing a rear main seal on the side of the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 you got one nutty story...pulled the trans out on the side of the road!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 you got one nutty story...pulled the trans out on the side of the road!!!! well i did not have to remove it completely. Just disconected it and scooted it back so I could reach down between the motor and trans and pullout the clutch and flywheel. Like I said That was the one and only time. I will never let myself get in that situation again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.radon Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 gary posted this for me. Here are the symptoms: I drove about 1500 miles to Colorado. As I pull into Denver the car smokes (engine oil on the exhaust) and I pull into a parking space. Oil is pouriong out of the gap betwen the engine and tranny, its engine oil. I drove to my sister's house, I had to put an oil pan under the car. I was 2 quarts low. A couple of days later I drove to Colorado Springs, not a drop of oil leaked. Then to Brekenridge and then to Winter Park, both not a drop of oil leaked. On the drive back to WA after 800 miles I pulled over to let my son drive and I dumped out almost 1/2 qrt of oil at the rest stop. I got back in and drove to a gas station, it didn't leak a drop of oil, I added the 1/3 quart and made it to WA without any more leaks. While in CO I checked the PVC system, works fine. I rebuilt this motor from the crank up and I know I put the seal in right. I can't figure out what would cause the leak to come and go. When it leaks it is a steady drip to almost a small stream. I got under the car and looked up into the gap between the tranny and engine I could see oil coming out. Now that I got her back I'll pull the motor to see what is up, the only other seal I can think about is that darm crank case vent seal (cork). If you think it might be the piston clip access holes I used seal and torqued them to factory spec's when I put them back in (very doubtfull it's them) I pulled the PVC valve, its clean, almost looks new. The hoses are clean too, no clog. The engine had 8.5K on it since the full rebuild. Any input might be helpfull. Thanks for the post Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 4, 2006 Author Share Posted January 4, 2006 it wouldn't be the crankcase vent seal. i've seen a leak caused by high pressured crankcase and while it does spurt out alot of oil i wouldn't call it "pouring out", it'll drip out of any weak spot in the PCV hoses, valve covers or the rear oil seperator (the cork gasket you're talking about). but i don't think it could pour out oil. the oil dipstick would likely be found pushed out as well. glad you made it back with no problems, that is awesome! really curious to see what could leak that bad then stop? so weird. glad you're back, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Humble Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Could you have installed the seal too far in? I know that on a EA82 if the seal is pushed in too far the lip on the seal will extend off the end of the crankshaft. The crank only has about an inch or less for the seal to ride on. Putting the seal flush with the case takes up half of that. Pressed in too far and seal lip will hang over the end of that part of the crank. The other thing that comes to mind is if while installing the seal, part of the inner lip got folded back. This is really easy to do as you can't see if it folded back as the seal was being installed. Using a seal protector during installation is the only way to insure this does not happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.radon Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 I took a 3/4plywood sheet and cut out a hole. I use it to tap the seal in flush. I'll pull the engine next week and post pictures of the problem if I figure it out. Hasn't leaked driving to work and back for the last few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howpow Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Hi all. Old thread I know but what exactly is a seal protector? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two85s Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Howpow, I'm pretty sure they are talking about something to protect the seal during the installation. A large socket or piece of material cut to the correct diameter that can be used to evenly apply pressure upon the seal while it's going in. I didn't use one the first time and had to redo the job. The second time IIRC, I used a large socket as a seal protector carefully tapping it in and had no problems since. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howpow Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Hi two85s. I assumed it was something to ensure that the lip of the seal was protected to make sure it didn't fold back during installation. regards, Howard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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