Posted by Matt Wilson on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 at 1:15AM :
I was holding one half of a new Victor two-piece rear main seal up against the rear seal surface on a crankshaft I have, and I noticed that there was a gap between the seal and shaft, adjacent to the area where that seal half meets the other seal half.
So I decided to take some measurements, and I found that the diameter of the new pair of seal halves is about 2.645" in the parting line region, where the two halves meet, and about 2.625" at 90 degrees away from the first measurement. Next, I measured the crankshaft seal surfaces on two crankshafts I have, and I found the diameter on one shaft to be 2.621", while on the other shaft it is 2.624". I recall that a third shaft I used to have was also about 2.625". I don't think that all 3 shafts could be mismanufactured/modified over the years to be practically the same diameters as each other in the seal area.
So this means that the seal will allow a gap of about 0.020" to 0.025" between itself and the shaft, in the parting line region, where the two seal halves meet. Is it just me, or does this look like a leak waiting to happen? I pulled out an older, used but still good Victor seal, and found that it, too, is about 2.645" diameter near the parting line, so I don't think it is a discrepant seal.
Does anyone have any experience with this situation? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Matt
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