1.8 Crankshaft oil seal leak

[Flavoade]

Hey guys, I have a 92 with a 1.8L

I recently changed all of the oil seals except the rear-main seal. The car overheated because of stretched head bolts and all of the seals got hard and were leaking oil. I put everything back together, started it up, and did not have any leaks for 10 minutes, then it started to leak. I traced it to the crankshaft seal.

My PCV valve was clogged so I cleaned it and installed a new seal, but it started leaking again. The oil is seeping out through the middle of the seal, and only after the car warms up.

You guys have an idea of what is causing this?

 

[Joethefallen23]

If it's anything like the 2.0l and 2.4l, there's likely a nice little grove cut in the crank from the old seal. If I remember correctly, there's a little sleeve you can buy and get pressed on, but is imagine you'd need to have the crank out and about.

Edit* Although upon looking back I see a lot of people have simply had success with a new seal and a tiny amount of rtv on the outer edge between the seal and front case.

 

[Flavoade]

If it's anything like the 2.0l and 2.4l, there's likely a nice little grove cut in the crank from the old seal. If I remember correctly, there's a little sleeve you can buy and get pressed on, but is imagine you'd need to have the crank out and about.

Edit* Although upon looking back I see a lot of people have simply had success with a new seal and a tiny amount of rtv on the outer edge between the seal and front case.

After some time considering it, I remember finding small bits of silicone on the rear timing cover not knowing where it came from. It now seems before I got the car someone tried to fix the leak, but failed as we had to replace the crank seal.

My question about using silicone is will the movement of the crankshaft cause the silicone seal to fail after a short time? I plan on giving the car away and don't want it leaking later on.

I did not see any imperfections on the crank spindle, though it does have 202k miles on the block. I asked my mechanic who said he had issues with oil leaks on our cars because the aftermarket oil seals are not an exact fit.

 

[Joethefallen23]

The only other fix I've seen is to clip one or two coils from the sealing spring to make it seal tighter. Frankly, if you don't see a grove, then perhaps just trying a new oem seal will solve your problem.

The rtv I was referring to would have been around the outer diameter of the seal between it and the front case. I'm not sure how it would help but at least 3 seperate threads mention it.

I'm throwing my hat to a new oem seal. Aftermarket seals/gaskets generally do the job but aren't always produced to the tightest tolerances (at least as tight as oem). It also depends on which manufacturers and what not.

 

[DSM1G90]

True, after many hundred thousands of miles, those teflon seals do harden up like to the hardness of steel and will cut a minute ring on the bearing wear surface where any new seals will not cure the leak.

Been down this road with a 4G37 also to where I just let the car go to a hobbyist who was willing to do a rebuild.