Skip to main content

Rear engine seals, gaskets and barbell replacement

Published Topics:
I've previously replaced the front engine seals, the oil pressure sender, cam sensor and the oil pan gasket, but oil was still collecting at the back of the oil pan.
I think I found the source.The seal lip has hardened and worn down.

Signs of a worn seal is visible on the surface of the crankshaft, but it felt perfectly smooth. I'll locate the new seal further in, as the rear cover is designed to allow this.
While it was accessible I also installed a new oil gallery barbell, which is supposed to increase oil flow and reduce the amount of unfiltered oil bypassing the barbell - and thereby the oil filter. I drilled a small hole in the OEM barbell and used a wood screw to pull it out.
New barbell in place. It has a threaded hole, making it easier to remove if one should ever need that.
I managed to sneak the mobile phone camera up to the cam sensor, hiding in a chamber on the top of the engine (used for a distributor on earlier generations of the engine) and right above the rear engine cover. The sensor body is dry, so I assume the light oil film is old history.
The upper oil pan gasket is in good shape, not flattened like they use to be when worn out.
Cleaned rear cover and new gaskets in place. I added a small dab of RTV sealant to the bottom corners of the cover, as the sharp angles make it difficult for the gaskets to seal properly. The vertical bolts through the oil pan are torqued to 12 Nm, the rest to 25 Nm.
A centering tool is used to make sure that the cover, and thus the crank seal is perfectly centered on the crank shaft. While torquing the bolts I made sure that the centering tool did not seize , which is an indication that the cover is not perfectly centered. After all the bolts were torqued to specification, I removed the centering tool.
New crank shaft seal installed. I used the cover centering tool to insert it, as this also helps to align the seal. I positioned the new seal 1 mm deeper than the old seal, to move it inside the old wear marks on the crankshaft.