Thread: Series III 2.6L 6-pot massive oil leak from wading plug hole

these are OEM seal carriers and they do have a rubberized coating on them. Unlike the last set of seal carriers these do not touch when fixed in place. With the bearing cap torqued down properly they still don’t touch. That said I have looked past the carrier exterior and the bearing caps is flush and even on both sides against the upper bearing shelf. So as the RTV came out of the t-seal area it filled in the slots between the carrier halves as you pointed out.

is this an issue? Don’t know how to get the carrier halves to touch …I’ve tightened the bearing cap down and confirmed with my boroscope that the cap is flush and in place. I can’t really compress it any further in order to get the carrier halves to touch. I followed the tightening instructions in the manual.

Should I disassemble and try it again?!?

Originally Posted by Gippslander

Like you I used silicone sealant instead of the “T” seals but I did not get sealant extruding from the seal carrier my seal carrier had a bonded rubberised type of component so there was no gap when installed. Could this be the issue you experienced if there was no seal between the upper and lower seal carrier it could prove to be the source of a leak.
Just a thought Gippy

No I don’t think it necessary you can’t change how it is made I was just wondering why the sealant had come out past the carrier. If it’s OEM it must be right, I was referencing my engine which is a 2.25 not the six.

Update: repaired the seal with OEM seal and new ORM seal retainer halves. Smoked tested it and it still leaked but this time I could see exactly from where it was leaking. Removed bearing cap and retainer halves and cleaned and refit ensuring this time I applied RTV to all the places that leaked. By the way, the seal itself provided a solid seal. It was the back side of the seal retainer upper half and the inner most area of the seal retainer halves where it meets the rear main seal that leaked.

posting two videos of before and after. Shortly.

NEW ISSUE: engine appears to be frozen. I can’t get the engine to turnover. Have removed the plugs and it doesn’t move. The engine was running fine prior to stopping it due to the massive rear main seal
leak. When I drained the oil there was plenty of oil and no metal found. I’m really scratching my head on this one.

ideas?!?

Hopefully the rear main crank bearing went back in properly when you were fiddling with the seal and hasn’t bound up…

Originally Posted by matthamilton

Update: repaired the seal with OEM seal and new ORM seal retainer halves. Smoked tested it and it still leaked but this time I could see exactly from where it was leaking. Removed bearing cap and retainer halves and cleaned and refit ensuring this time I applied RTV to all the places that leaked. By the way, the seal itself provided a solid seal. It was the back side of the seal retainer upper half and the inner most area of the seal retainer halves where it meets the rear main seal that leaked.

posting two videos of before and after. Shortly.

NEW ISSUE: engine appears to be frozen. I can’t get the engine to turnover. Have removed the plugs and it doesn’t move. The engine was running fine prior to stopping it due to the massive rear main seal
leak. When I drained the oil there was plenty of oil and no metal found. I’m really scratching my head on this one.

ideas?!?

Well I’m planning to tearing down the engine on Friday of this week to better understand what the heck has happened. I’ll be sure to follow that with pics and a post or two.

Attempting to upload videos of the smoke test. Doesn’t seem to like .MOV files.

Originally Posted by drfish

Hopefully the rear main crank bearing went back in properly when you were fiddling with the seal and hasn’t bound up…

Best way to upload movies is to just put 'em on YT.

Wondering now if my torque wrench is screwed up and the bear caps bolts are too tight and have compressed the cap too tightly around the crank. Possible? I don’t know. The are the thoughts that wake me up at night!!!!

I hope not! Your eyes might be leaking as well once you see how much bearings are for these old 6-pots …if you can find them

Originally Posted by matthamilton

Wondering now if my torque wrench is screwed up and the bear caps bolts are too tight and have compressed the cap too tightly around the crank. Possible? I don’t know. The are the thoughts that wake me up at night!!!!