Crank seal leak - Victor Reinz to blame?

[Discseven]

Broke engine in after rebuild (in-car run of engine.) Oil appeared from between engine and clutch house during BI. Went back in…





Seal installed and now removed is a Victor Reinz. Have used this brand over the years without issue. Now, word I got from local Porsche parts supplier is there was a bad batch of these Victor Reinz crank seals. Whether this “bad batch” status is genuinely true or not is questionable. Possibly of interest is this supposedly bad seal being black. As I recall, VR crank seals are brown. I don’t want to pizz on a brand I’ve relied upon for years so there is NO CONFIRMED blame on VR being applied here. Only questioning...

If anyone else has heard the same, it would add some credence to what I’ve heard.




In Victor’s place, Corteco went in. Corteco product choice was based on the place that advised the issue with VR. They are also a Porsche repair shop and are said to have dumped their VR inventory and are now using the Corteco crank seals in place of VR. Looking into the Corteco brand, I found Freudenberg at the tail end. No small show—not that that translates into consistent quality.

After putting everything back together, ran the engine and no oil. Is good initial news but I hesitate to pop the celebratory cork on this before seeing at least 1k miles on the engine.

Again, I—and surely others—are interested in knowing if this Victor Reinz crank seal matter has some substance to it or not.
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[Old H2S]

Look up my thread on RMS problems , pizz on Elring too..

[Discseven]

From your thread H2S...

"I made an accelerator rod out of a 1/8" s.s. welding rod, came out nice. I had a spare pivot end that was factory so the throttle body side came out GERMAN. Then I took the mule out and beat the crap out of it for an hour, all seems good, no leaks. So what is the end result? Cortico did not leak and Elring did, one brand worked for me and the other didn't. So what, means very little after 1 test on 1 engine. Could be I screwed up or Wayne's way of installing a RMS works, who knows. Now porting the exhaust ports made a big difference, how do I know? I am running the ICARP adjustable FPR that I control from the drivers seat and the engine wants more fuel for the same AFR reading.. now it goes lean much faster if you stomp on the gas. So its fun fun fun till the cops take my Blue Mule away.
Old Fart out."

Agree. 1 test, 1 engine is inconsequential. Am liking that you found no leak with a Corteco. I may do the same.

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[Old H2S]

I have no leak on the RMS with the Cortico seal. Now lets talk about the front pulley seal from Elring..

[gamarrangel28]

Originally Posted by Old H2S

Look up my thread on RMS problems , pizz on Elring too..

Can you post the link or something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Discseven]

Originally Posted by Old H2S

I have no leak on the RMS with the Cortico seal. Now lets talk about the front pulley seal from Elring..

That sux. Are you on a round trip dealing with that?

[Old H2S]

No, I'm still watching it, and it is only an hour to change it out, but with the same problem still..
what brand to stick in there?

[Discseven]

Installed Victor Reinz on my pulley side. Not thrilled with that now. No leak so far.

[Old H2S]

Thanks, that helps..

[88911coupe]

After reading this I ordered a Corteco rear main seal, then realized I installed an Elring in my current project. Can/should I just stick with the Elring and use the Corteco as back up? If the Corteco is better I'm fine with replacing it since I already have it. Just wonder if it's an actual "improvement" over the Elring. This whole "which seal brand is great...or sucks depending on when you bought it, or what color it is" is incredibly frustrating...

[Jeff Alton]

That seal does not look like it is set deep enough in your first pic... Was it leaking from ID or OD? Did you ensure the ID of the case was clean with no scoring or left over sealant that spooged out?

[Discseven]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

That seal does not look like it is set deep enough in your first pic... Was it leaking from ID or OD? Did you ensure the ID of the case was clean with no scoring or left over sealant that spooged out?

I'd bet my life it was flush with the case Jeff. Leaking ID or OD... that takes this to the next level. I did not think to look that closely, but will should I ever return to another rebuild & leaker. Seat for seal is in excellent condition. Case sealant was put on with a roller and so minimal. There was no sealant seen when the seal was removed. Fact that new brand has gone in and engine is running with no leak suggests (does not guarantee) that the VR seal was faulty. What does point the finger clearly at VReinz is a global Porsche parts place advising me that they too experienced some bad VR crank seals... in addition to selling parts internationally, they service local Porsches and had a number of VR seals needing replacement... at their expense!