TR2/3/3A TR3 rear oil seal

[TR3TR6]

When I rebuilt the engine on my TR3, against my better judgement I followed the instructions in the shop manual and used shellac to seal the rear oil seal. Guess what, it leaks. Has anybody replaced the rear engine oil seal on the TR3 without pulling the engine? In short, have you done it from underneath the car? If so, what did you have to remove besides the oil pan?

 

[TR3driver]

If you are talking about the aluminum scroll seal, you pretty much need to pull the engine. The flywheel has to be removed to get at the bolts for the upper half, and the crankshaft has to be removed so you can lay in the mandrel to center the seal (it's supposed to almost, but not quite, touch the crank scroll). BTW, the mandrel dimensions given in the shop manual (and supplied by some vendors) are WRONG.

But if you are just talking about the felt pieces that seal the sides of the rear main cap to the engine block, then yes, I've replaced those with the engine still in the car. Some folks have said they couldn't get the rear main cap out past the flywheel, but it came off for me with some manuvering (and with the stock pre-50K flywheel).

BTW, I still feel that gasket shellac (in the form of Permatex #3 Aviation Form-A-Gasket) is the best sealer for soaking the felt. However, I've heard that some gasket sets don't include enough felt. You should have enough that, no matter how tightly you tamp it into the hole, you still have to cut off the end. If it was properly soaked in shellac first, you'll have shellac running out all of the cracks

Also BTW, There will be a new, improved rear seal available soon, which does not require having the crank machined. As I understand it, it retains the original scroll seal for the primary sealing, and adds a backup seal of Teflon. It's not listed on the web site yet, but it should be on https://www.the-vintage-racer.com/ when it is "ready for prime time".

Which reminds me, I'd better get one of my original seals off to Joe to be modified.

 

[TR3TR6]

Thanks Randall:

Since I put a new seal in when I rebuilt the engine I'm pretty sure the problem is the felt strips. The kit I got did not have enough felt in it, so I'm pretty sure thats where its leaking from. I think I will try what you suggested and if I can't get the old felt out, I will pull the trany and flywheel to get to it. It beats pulling the engine.