Just a general question. If a rear seal was leaking bad, due to improper install after a rebuild, what are the odds that the engine has not been seriously damaged? It was run enough, leaking enough, to ruin the clutch.

Thanks for any info or fingers pointing me in the right direction.

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to install it, any moron could tell if it was cocked...If it's leaking that bad, either the old one was reused, they bent the crap out of it seating it in there, or they tore it up putting the flywheel back on (or had dirt or something on the flywheel that trashed it). If you've already pulled the tranny & clutch off to verify the rear seal is leaking, why didn't you pull the flywheel and fix it?

 

I don't actually have the car, it's one I am looking at that is for sale.

It has already been established the rear seal is leaking and it has ruined the clutch, I'm just wondering if I should assume the worst in light of that discovery?

 

Any thoughts anyone?

 

If that's the case, and you don't mind yanking the tranny & flywheel once you buy it, go for it. Other than the rear seal, you'll need some form of tooling to hold the flywheel & crack the nut, and you might as well replace the pilot bearing, clutch disk, pressure plate, throwout bearing, etc...If these items are in great shape (low mileage), you might be able to clean everything up real good with some brake care or acetone, then reinstall everything after the rear seal is replaced...

 

Alright then, that doesn't sound too bad. I was just not sure how serious this problem could be, I assumed the worst. That is encouraging information, thanks Wayne.

 

Just keep in mind that if the clutch disk has been immersed in oil all this time, it may be so saturated that it will be impossible to clean properly, and you should buy all new clutch components since you're going to be in there anyway. Depending on finances, I guess...

 

Yeah, I would already assume I will be replacing all clutch components, just worried about the engine. Thanks for the help Wayne, much appreciated.

 

If it was leaking tons it would hurt the motor from runnning out of oil or low pressure,.. but it would have to be one hell of a leak..

 

It is in a low pressure oil zone, so unless the car phyiscally ran out of oil, it should be fine.

Also in regard to the clutch disc/PP, i'd suprise if it was totally stuffed, usually just a good launch will burn off all the crud thats on it.

 

That's what I was wondering, I didn't know how serious a leak there could be...I have no experience with rotaries yet.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

As far as that rear seal is concerned, it's about the same setup as you would see on any piston popper, if that helps...Your main concern is going to be getting the flywheel off, it likes to kick our asses a lot, do a search for "flywheel removal", I'm sure you'll find some good info...