RMS Oil Leak

drola · 09-18-2010, 04:19 PM

i recently resealed my 2.7 but it seems i must have screwed something up with the rms. might be that i installed it dry without wetting the inner part with oil before installing it but not sure. as thoroughly as i searched wayne's rebuild book does not cover installation of the rms other than saying to use curil t so i did just that. needless to say that i have a pretty bad leak.
i thought it was coming from the top of the motor so i removed the engine and went over the breather cover, t-stat, and pressure switch to the point that i was sure that if the leak was on top of the engine i would have taken care of it. the rms was also a suspect but before i replaced my 200 mile old flywheel bolts at $12.50 each i figured i'd give it a shot.
well, the leak remains and it is bad enough that i have to deal with it. i had lowered the motor to try and stick my head back there enough to see if i could see anything but i couldn't. there is oil on the top and it seems to be dripping down the top and coming out from the bottom of the jugs. today i lowered the motor again and ran it while i stuck my head back behind the cis to see if i could see anything suspicious but again i could not. other than that the top of the motor is damp with oil on both sides of the case which is why i suspected the breather cover in the first place. if it was the t-stat or oil switch the oil would be only on the right side.
so my question is: will a badly leaking rms somehow splatter oil to the top of the motor?
my reasoning is that the oil might be getting on the back of the flywheel and inertia is spraying it everywhere but since i can't see where exactly it's coming from i just can't tell. i will be removing the motor yet again once my new flywheel bolts and rms come in.
has anyone had this issue?

DUK · 09-18-2010, 04:52 PM

Do you have the breather hoses hooked up right? We just ran into this on a customer car, where the line from the motor to the tank was clogged and so pressurized the crankcase. Might start looking into the hoses and make sure they are routed right.

I would suspect the breather gasket also. You did clean off all the old gasket?

drola · 09-18-2010, 05:27 PM

breather hose is new. cover gasket was thoroughly cleaned off. there is just too much oil coming out and if it was the cover then i would have seen it spewing oil while i had the engine running and my head back behind the cis.

drola · 09-18-2010, 05:35 PM

[QUOTE=DUK;5568937]Do you have the breather hoses hooked up right?

there is only one hose. not sure how it could be hooked up wrong.

feelyx · 09-18-2010, 06:39 PM

A trick I learned with the RMS is before installing a new seal on a worn crank is to roll the spring out of the new seal, unscrew the spring and cut about 2mm off the end. Screw the spring back together, roll it back into the seal. It will make for a tighter seal on the crank.
Hope it helps
Tim S.

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

I went through two different RMS's on my rebuild. The first one was from one manufacturer and the second was from another. Same part numbers, but #2 has not leaked. Our host supplied both, one was from the reseal kit and one was just by itself. It's possible I had a bad "new" seal the first time around, but it's weird.

drola · 09-18-2010, 08:50 PM

thanks for the insight.
did your leaky rms make a mess on the top of your motor? or did it just drip down the bottom of the motor?
i'm trying to make some sense of why the top of my motor is wet. the 3 usual culprits seem to be fine so where is that oil coming from??????

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

I had oil all over, it was being flung around by the flywheel, but certainly not the amounts you're describing. I did have an odd pooling leak around the breather area however... It turned out to be that the PO had used heater hose for the oil breather line and it would sweat oil through the hose.

drola · 09-19-2010, 01:11 PM

come to think of it i don't remember if i installed the new seal at the groove or not. and since i don't remember i must not have checked it. if i had checked it i would remember having checked it and since i don't ........

so do i install the new seal dry or with a dab of oil on the inner lip?

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

Before you put the new one in check for a groove in the crank itself where the inside edge of the seal touches it. I had one before I had my crank polished and still have a bit of a mark even now.

DUK · 09-19-2010, 04:14 PM

Federal mogul makes a redi-sleeve for our cars. If the groove is too bad.

drola · 09-19-2010, 04:14 PM

yes, i will check the groove.

do i install wet or dry?

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

If you go by Wayne's book it's a little curil-t on the outside and dry otherwise.

DUK · 09-19-2010, 05:22 PM

You never want to install a seal dry. Just a little white grease is my preference.

Long Nose · 08-22-2022, 01:01 PM

I will just carry on this thread instead of starting a new thread.

I also had the engine out of my 70T for a gearbox rebuild, replaced the RMS, and it still appears to be leaking. Wondering if anyone has had any success with liquid mechanic, i.e. leak seal?

Zuffenwerker · 08-22-2022, 02:24 PM

The seal has to be perfectly square in its bore, if it is not perfectly square it will leak. Can be done just fine without the factory tool but the tool ensures a square seal every time.

Daniel

Walt Fricke · 08-22-2022, 04:26 PM

There are differing views on whether to use any sealant on the seal OD (less chance of slipping if dry), but none about the inner lips - lube them. Bit of oil just fine. Prevents any chance of damaging the narrow lips when sliding them onto the dry end of the crank.

yelcab1 · 08-23-2022, 05:51 AM

RMS is something I only buy from Porsche, no matter what the cost is.