atkins water seals
 

I purchased a engine rebuild set from atkins and as I am getting ready to rebuild my engine i have noticed how the inner water seals were brittle almost like a cardboard and a couple were also broken. Now this is my first rebuiled but I'm almost certain that they're supposed to be some what more plyable as the outter were rubber. I just want to know if anyone can give me some insight on this situation and if they have had any similar issues.

Grab a putty knife and scrape out the old gasket. When you rebuild used engines expect coolant seals to stretch and be brittle.

Im taking about the new ones

Can I use silicone to repair it

no. it will leak. contact atkins

Alright thanks ill do that tommorow

This happened to me recently from Atkins. Luckily I had a spare seal sitting around so I could continue building the engine. Several years ago, the same thing happened to a friend who purchased his seals from Mazda. I suspect that they have a limited shelf life.

Happened once to me and i just put break in intake area and used a little extra hylomar. I wasnt to worried because it was just a piece together engine assembled to drive the car a bit before winter. Didnt leak in 1000 miles but engine got torn back apart.

Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. 2 of the 4 new seals I purchased from Atkins were cracked near the seal. The inners are very brittle compared to the outers. Be careful how you handle them. Give Atkins a call, and have them swap out new good ones.

I didn't have an issue with the atkins seals breaking or being too dry, mine swelled up 2x their size. I started building the engine one day, and like the FSM says, I used petroleum jelly. Next day, the seals were all pushed out and swollen up. Not Atkins' fault at all, I shouldn't have used petroleum jelly on rubber :(

another reason to order the seals from McMaster-Carr