When I put together my new engine on the engine stand, I attached the flywheel while it was still out of the car. When I started the engine up, oil dribbled out of the rear main seal. Basically, I failed to tighten the flywheel down enough, and oil was able to seep between the gap between the rear main seal, and the flywheel. So today, I got back under the car and worked to tighten the flywheel down, and I believe I have it as far down as it'll go, but I still see a 1-1.5 MM bit of the machined part of the flywheel that goes into the engine.

I'm pretty sure that I assembled the front assembly correctly, and my end-play is within spec...so what gives? I know I have to put some hustle into the torqueing of the flywheel nut, and maybe I need to put a bit more into it, but I think that I've done a decent job of that. I have the Racing Beat flywheel nut wrench which multiplies torque by several times.

Any thoughts on this? I'd really like to get my car running within this year (god knows it's been long enough! )

-Zach

 

Bump.

 

oil should have nothing to do with your flywheel. you can have the flywheel on the floor and no oil shold come out of your motor.

 

That gap is about right, but it's almost impossible to tighten the flywheel nut without an impact gun or a torque multiplier tool.



-Ted

 

Some rear main seals need to be installed a certain way, before you flame me, yes a rear main seal can be put in the wrong way. Most people just pull them out and they dont look to see how they come out of the motor. I've seen this done several times on other cars. You should probably go look at your old rear main seal to see if one of the sides are different, if you installed it wrong its never going to seal no matter how much you tighten the flywheel. You should also use the the torque specs for that nut that holds the flywheel on, thats what they are there for tightening things as tight as they can be is not a very accurate measurement. There are multiple tools that you can use to stop the flywheel from moving.
If you did, by some chance put it in wrong, just keep checking your oil until you can plan to fix the problem.

 

If you use the racing beat tools they have a diagram for how much you weigh, and where you should put your hands on the wrench to provide the correct amount of torque.

Are you sure the leak isn't coming from the front seal on the transmission? that is a common problem area.... just a suggestion.

-Mike

 

Yes it does. The rear-seal prevents oil from flowing out the end of the engine. I was cranking the engine to build up oil pressure, and after I got it started, I saw oil dripping from the inspection plate. After removing the inspection plate, I saw that the flywheel was dripping oil. I removed the transmission, and oil was definitely seeping from the main-seal.

I ruined a brand-new clutch disc in the process.

 

I'm using the RB flywheel brake to hold the engine still, and I'm using the RB flywheel nut tool (which measures almost 2.5 feet long) to tighten it. My method of tightening the nut was to brace my feet against the passenger side tire and pull as hard as humanly possible. Now, I'm not the world's strongest guy, but I can certainly hold my own, and I feel that with the leverage provided by the nut tool, I was well exceeding the torque needed to tighten the nut.

As for the acid-test...I can either opt to remove the flywheel and check the NEW main seal, which I'm 90% certain I installed correctly, and take my chances. Or reinstall the clutch along with a brand-new ACT clutch disc, install the transmission and pray that the damn thing doesn't leak.

If there's a way to get the engine to spin fast enough to check for leaks at the rear seal without reinstalling the transmission, I'd LOVE to hear them.

 

Bump.