Hi,

Whilst swapping my gearbox for a rebuilt one, I thought I'd investigate the long-running minor rear crankshaft oil leak. After removing the flywheel it looks like the oil is coming from a blanking screw (can be seen upper right in this picture I borrowed). Anybody know what that screw is for? I'll refit it with threadlock and hopefully that will sort it.

I've a new oil seal and gasket for the oil seal holder. Is any sealant used? There was no mention in the Haynes manual?

Thanks,

David.

on crossflows, they have similar ones, that are just were the oil galleries have been drilled

they are normally in "FT" so may be a pig to remove, but if was my engine, I would undo it, and loctight it back in

steve

Hi Steve,

It came out very easily (bit of a worry). Yes, will Loctite back in.

Think as the existing rear seal is not actually leaking I'll leave alone. Don't want to risk introducing a leak.

Is it 18th taper? Probably for the oil gallery drilling. There's two in the head as well.

Hi,

Looks like a 1/4" taper (13mm-ish). Does not go through into the crankcase, so assume it is an oil gallery. That means pressurised oil, so harder to seal. I've refitted using Loctite and done up hand-tight - don't want to strip any threads.

In the end I swapped the oil seal. Was a bit of work to centralise the seal carrier, but once I'd worked out a method with feeler gauges on a dry run, the actual fitting with gasket went well. A cut-down epoxy mastic mixing cup made a perfect sleeve for refitting the seal over the crank end. Then a supersize Sports Direct mug fitted into the upturned old seal to act as a drift! Fingers crossed it is leak free. Upon inspection the old seal was past its best. The lip was very stiff and probably not long for this world (2003 engine with 50k miles).

Cheers,

David.