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TR4/4A Tr4A oil leaking from timing cover

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Tr-Beg

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I was surprised oil is seriously dripping from the timing cover and this when the oil is warm ( very logical indeed). I have already did this job 2 times without any problem... Oil doesn't come from the pulley, oil seal is new and the oil deflector is in the wright position. The new joint ( brown ) was not very thick not as the previous one, a thick black one, both sides of the joint was first greased. Seems the reason is a cover not very plane, to much pressure on each bold in the past, time to play a little with a hammer...
I just made a belt - pulley conversion and installed an second-hand alternator of 25 $, worked direct ok ( made the cuts and soldering under the control box ).
 
Next time use seal maker or form a gasket and spread the sealer flat with your finger on both sides. Lots of oil moves around in that area, so why take a chance.

Wayne
 
Tr-Beg said:
... Seems the reason is a cover not very plane, to much pressure on each bold in the past, time to play a little with a hammer...
Click to expand...

Yes, like the oil pan those holes can get distorted (though probably not as easily since the gasket is usually pretty thin.

I think I treated my timing cover like an oil pan in that I affixed the gasket to the cover with RTV and then laid it on a sheet of glass to set up. The idea was to get the backside of the gasket very flat so it would seal well against the plate with just a bit of Hylomar.
 
On timing covers and oil pans, you need to put the flange on wooden block and hit each hole from the backside with a small ball peen hammer to push the edges of the holes out and insure that the flat face hits the mating surface.
Bob
 
Are you certain that you do not have a hole in the cover due to a once broken tensioner? The chain will wear a hole in the cover eventually.
 
JerryVV said:
Are you certain that you do not have a hole in the cover due to a once broken tensioner? The chain will wear a hole in the cover eventually.
Click to expand...

+1. I've had it happen. The hole is quite apparent if you are looking for it but you have to be looking.
Tom
 
The motor is still leaking but much less now. I have replaced the main gasket, hammering previously some area of the timing cover and now it is ok but not with the oil seal, I have replaced it, the previous was a big metallic one to be hammer in place, the new one was a flimsy black one that was so easy to put in place pushing simply with your thumbs. The surface of the hub is nice. So when the oil is warm the oil seal is leaking.
 
Perhaps the new all rubber seal is leaking around the outside where it mates to the timing cover and not on the sealing lip? Did you use sealer on the outside of the seal? The metal originals usually do not require this sealer. Did you pay attention to the direction of the new all rubber seal? - the hollow part should face towards the liquids(oil.)

brgds
 
PeterK said:
Perhaps the new all rubber seal is leaking around the outside where it mates to the timing cover and not on the sealing lip? Did you use sealer on the outside of the seal? The metal originals usually do not require this sealer. Did you pay attention to the direction of the new all rubber seal? - the hollow part should face towards the liquids(oil.)

brgds
Click to expand...

It was my idea too, leaking around the seal. Backlog for the joint of the timing cover so I did the following : With the timing cover still on I removed the hub and key and with a little homemade hook I pushed the seal back, the first one was a little push with the top of the finger and already it moved back. ( not much place to work with the crankcase in the center of the hole ). with a clearance of 3mm I pushed the blue sealing inside the trench ( not easy comparing with the hook, a blue mess... ) than I used the hook to pull the seal in place ( Oups a lot of blue mess come back ). Tomorrow I shall place the hub back and check the result. Never see an advice to use sealing here on Internet.

Wait and see...
 
The seal should not move and you should not be able to push it or pull it in and out of place with your finger and a hook. The original has an outer metal housing and it is usually tapped into place with a hammer and drift or seal installer before installing the timing cover.

The "trench" should not be filled with RTV.

It sounds like you've got the wrong seal regardless. So I would order another one from a different source.


(my previous replay about leaking around the seal was referring to the outer circumference where it mates to the timing cover, not in the internal "trench".)
 
PeterK said:
The seal should not move and you should not be able to push it or pull it in and out of place with your finger and a hook. The original has an outer metal housing and it is usually tapped into place with a hammer and drift or seal installer before installing the timing cover.

The "trench" should not be filled with RTV.

It sounds like you've got the wrong seal regardless. So I would order another one from a different source.


(my previous replay about leaking around the seal was referring to the outer circumference where it mates to the timing cover, not in the internal "trench".)
Click to expand...

This the seal sale in Germany, Belgium and England, I have the same :
https://www.limora.com/en/british-c...1967/engine/crankshaft/oil-seal-1-115253.html

The trench of I speak is not the internal of the seal of course but the one of 3mm I made pushing the oil seal a little back, between the cover and the seal.

Am I the only one replacing the oil seal with this type, I don't think so... Per miracle the other don't have a problem? ( of course the seal don't move by itself ).

I need to run the motor to see if I have improve something...
 
So the answer after a test ride is clear, not one drop of oil under the timing cover. My explanation is this : We do not have here an aluminium timing cover with a nice bore, the old oil seal was hammer with force and make good contact with the metal around, the new one is just push in place and if there is a slight "wobble" with the metal around the warm oil will pass around. I think it is a good practice to mount it with a sealing past. IMO
 
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