Crankshaft Pulley Assembly TVR RV8 3.5 (SD1 derivative)

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:32 am

I've just pulled the crankshaft pulley assembly to change the oil seal as it was gushing a bit from there. Got the new oil seal no problem but am more concerned about the 2 scored groves around the shaft of the assembly where it rubs mates with the seal. You can actually feel the grooves that have been worn with a finger nail. I'm thinking that if I put this back in and run it its still going to leak oil even with the new seal.

No problem I thought, just call Rimmer Bro and replace it, its in the catalog after all. "Err, sorry sir those parts are discontinued and no one makes them anymore"

I don't just want to suck it and see as a) I have to drain and pull the rad to get to the assembly b) the engine is in a track prep'd Porsche 924 so will be used quite hard.

Any suggestions? Anyone got one in decent condition to move on?

DaveEFI · Post by **DaveEFI** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:38 am

It's no big deal to remove the pulley, so why not just try it and see if it leaks? All with some miles behind them do end up grooved - but the seal is springy so can cope with some wear.

A cure would be to sleeve the existing pulley.

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:54 am

DaveEFI wrote:It's no big deal to remove the pulley, so why not just try it and see if it leaks? All with some miles behind them do end up grooved - but the seal is springy so can cope with some wear.

A cure would be to sleeve the existing pulley.

Thanks for the reply.
Removing the pulley is not a problem I agree, but getting to it on this car is a PITA. I dont have the clearance to get the pulley off the shaft without removing the Rad and removing the rad is a pain as well. So while its all off and drained I'd like to give myself a fighting chance of sorting this with some degree of certainty before putting it all back and filling the fluids.

DaveEFI · Post by **DaveEFI** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 1:36 pm

I'd guess you'll have to sleeve it then if you want to start out with a perfect one.

I'm pretty certain the procedure was covered on here recently.

Blown v8 · Post by **Blown v8** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:27 pm

Clean the grooves,and fill with something like liquid metal,or a two pack alternative .Spin it up in a lathe,big drill and take off excess !
Or replace the seal with one of the over size ones especially made for worn pulleys. This is what I did,leak cured

mgbv8 · Post by **mgbv8** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:52 pm

I have never had an oil leak from the crank pulley on any of my RV8 engines. Even my old 120,000 mile 3500 which had a rope seal didnt leak.

Does your engine have a slinger ring fitted behind the front crank oil seal ?

garrycol · Post by **garrycol** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:11 am

All that machining is all too hard - just speedie sleeve it - simple, easy relatively cheap and works - and you use your standard size oil seal. Available at any industrial supply shop - but one example

http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Speedi-Sle ... air-3289-c

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:28 am

Blown v8 wrote:Clean the grooves,and fill with something like liquid metal,or a two pack alternative .Spin it up in a lathe,big drill and take off excess !
Or replace the seal with one of the over size ones especially made for worn pulleys. This is what I did,leak cured

Looks like i will have to go down one of these routes. Where did you get the over size seal from?

ged · Post by **ged** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:46 am

Before you go off the deep end post a picture, Chances are it'll be OK but it's hard to tell just from a description.

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:27 am

ged wrote:Before you go off the deep end post a picture, Chances are it'll be OK but it's hard to tell just from a description.

I would normally do that but am having a few problems posting pics.

Looks like I might have been sent the oversize seal so am going to give it a go. If it works great if not I will live with it until winter until I take the car off the road again.

Thanks for all the input guys.

moppit · Post by **moppit** » Sun Jun 26, 2016 5:57 pm

Hi Prophead,

Where did you get the seal from and which one? There are 5 variants on Rimmer Bros website. Mine is an SD1 engine/kitcar.

since the price varies from £4.60 to £18.70 I'm guessing there are some differences? Don't want to have to pull this apart again, ie. rad off, coolant everywhere....

There is a slight groove on my pulley but doubt it will be a problem. The problem with mine was the old seal was completely destroyed when I inserted the pulley (oops!). The reason for this is my pulley had to be shortened for stuff to line up and not enough chamfer on the end.

ta

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:23 pm

moppit wrote:Hi Prophead,

Where did you get the seal from and which one? There are 5 variants on Rimmer Bros website. Mine is an SD1 engine/kitcar.

since the price varies from £4.60 to £18.70 I'm guessing there are some differences? Don't want to have to pull this apart again, ie. rad off, coolant everywhere....

There is a slight groove on my pulley but doubt it will be a problem. The problem with mine was the old seal was completely destroyed when I inserted the pulley (oops!). The reason for this is my pulley had to be shortened for stuff to line up and not enough chamfer on the end.

ta

Probably best to giver Rimmers a call and speak to them, they should be able to advise whichseal to order. Ive already binned the packaging, if i find the invoice in the pile i'll let you know.

unstable load · Post by **unstable load** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:34 am

If you are really worried about it, have a spacer machined up to set the seal a bit further out on the crankshaft so it can seat on fresh metal. You should only need 0.5mm or so.
Alternatively, as mentioned earlier, use a SpeedySleeve. We use them on our helicopters as part of the OEM set-up and they are a doddle to fit.

Prophead · Post by **Prophead** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:10 am

Just thought i would update this. The new seal is working fine so far.