More rear main seal questions

[masospaghetti]

1) If a repair sleeve is used, does the sleeve flange point towards the rear of the motor or the front?
2) How do I get the seal to the proper depth?

I've installed 2 seals so far, both have leaked badly. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. The PO had installed a repair sleeve thus forcing me to do the same.

Thanks all!

 

[sportblack99]

Been awhile since I did mine but I thought it just went in till it stopped. The sleeve should go in until its just pass the chamfered edge of the crank.

 

[masospaghetti]

So put the sleeve until its just past the chamfered edge, and then bottom out the seal?

 

[deweyville65]

1) If a repair sleeve is used, does the sleeve flange point towards the rear of the motor or the front?
2) How do I get the seal to the proper depth?

I've installed 2 seals so far, both have leaked badly. Clearly I'm doing something wrong. The PO had installed a repair sleeve thus forcing me to do the same.

Thanks all!

The speedy sleeve has a rounded edge, correct? The rounded edge has to go towards the end of the crankshaft. Otherwise you are going to deform the sleeve trying to install it. But, if as you previously posted, the crank does not have a groove in it where the seal lip rubs the surface, why are you even using the speedy sleeve?. It is very difficult to diagnose the leak from where I am without seeing what you are doing. The only thing I can think of is 1, you are installing the sleeve incorrectly 2, you are installing the seal backwards or 3, you are bending the seal while installing it. But you have to really bend the seal for it to leak a bunch.

 

[deweyville65]

The speedy sleeve has a rounded edge, correct? The rounded edge has to go towards the end of the crankshaft. Otherwise you are going to deform the sleeve trying to install it. But, if as you previously posted, the crank does not have a groove in it where the seal lip rubs the surface, why are you even using the speedy sleeve?. It is very difficult to diagnose the leak from where I am without seeing what you are doing. The only thing I can think of is 1, you are installing the sleeve incorrectly 2, you are installing the seal backwards or 3, you are bending the seal while installing it. But you have to really bend the seal for it to leak a bunch.

Having reread your post, can you show a picture of the sleeve? Does the sleeve have a flange going out, or a rounded in edge? If there is a flange going out, larger diameter than the crank, then it needs to go in towards the inside of the engine. But I don't recall ever seeing a sleeve made that way. If the sleeve has an end rounded in, smaller than the crank, then it must go to the end of the crank, the seal fitting over it.

 

[masospaghetti]

The flange is of larger diameter than the sleeve "going out". If this is driven in first, flange towards the center of the engine, then how would it ever be extracted? Would the flange then need to be trimmed?

The old rear main seal and sleeve was installed with the flange facing the rear of the vehicle. I just assumed it was correct (and it actually wasn't leaking - this whole mess was a preventative measure).

Here is the NAPA seal I used, you can see the metal sleeve and flange together with the seal:

 

[ponkotsu]

Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09LiVbqL6ss

Regarding removing it to replace, I think if you've worn out two rear main seals, it's time for a rebuild anyway. But probably you can cut the sleeve out very carefully. If you installed it with the flange out, it wouldn't seal at all and would leak like a sieve. Maybe when the original sleeve was installed it was set in so far that the new main seal never even contacted it. Look at the bore and shaft carefully with a strong light. Make sure there aren't any gouges from working on it. Even a small gouge can cause a leak.

 

[masospaghetti]

Thanks for the replies.

Why would it not seal with the flange out? And I was mostly concerned about removing the sleeve if it was damaged during installation (since I have not yet been successful in this).

Also, the crank surface actually doesn't look bad, despite the sleeve being pressed in and off multiple times. I'm going to clean with some fine emory cloth. If it cleans up really well, would it be a bad idea to use a teflon seal without the sleeve?