The 'E' Type Forum

Hi all , since changing my oil and filter a couple of weeks back and re filling with a measuring jug the correct amount , and also ive now been driving the car more ???? Spiritedly it would seem my front crank oil seal leak is no more , i must add with messured amount of oil in the engine the dip stick shows just over half , annnnd the dip stick is the correct one , any thoughts ? Regards confused but slightly pleased of Orpington

Personally I've had nothing but trouble with the Teflon lip seals leaking although I'm the first to say that it might just be me.

Last couple of engines I've done I've put on the rubber ones and so far no leaks. Given that most cars in the world use them I'm hoping that they'll be OK.

You can replace the seal in situ. You need to drop the sump and you will need to trim back the edges of the retaining lip on the bottom of the timing cover. You should also replace the seal runner, especially if you intend putting a Teflon seal on. This can be tricky to remove.

Cheers for you advice on changing seal , and what seal works best . But my quandary is , has anyone else had a seal stop leaking after using the car " properly " and filling with the correct amount of oil,
Regards Darren

Hi Darren...considering you engine is a fairly recent rebuild l wouldnt expect it to leak oil unless however it was overfilled.....how much extra are we talking about.....its not uncommon to here on the forum that others who have too much oil also leak and filling with the correct measured amount has reduced the leaks....also less likely to leak with regular use

Have you got an effective crankcase breather? If not pressure in the block can push out or distort the seal. Happened to my rear seal because the engine was producing a lot of power but we paid little attention to the breather, leaving the single breather venting to the road a la early 3.8. A double breather and twin pipes were required and no problems since.

I think it initially leaked because it had sat for a year very much stashed away in "hobby corner " at work , and also when i drained off the oil from the full Mark on the dipstick it was a good litre to much , as far as crank case breathing I've got that covered with the large Dwnnis welch modded breather coming off front of cam case/ front of head and I also made a breather from the distributor loction as I'm not using a distributor , these two hoses collect in a catch can and then a hose goes from the catch can to the air filter plenum so any pressure is being drawn , as an aside the catch can does not collect any oil / there is no oil being blown by ,
So I suppose as long as the oil leak has stopped I won't go " fixing" it ..... yet

I have had the stock and newer teflon front seals. The stock seal leaked a little bit.

The only time I had no leak was when I fitted a teflon seal and retained the oil slinger.

You are not supposed to keep the oil slinger on with the teflon seal, however I did and it worked.