Knuckles84

Hi all I've hit a bit of a dead end with this rebuild.

I've recently had the engine rebuilt and after 220 miles I noticed the rear main began to leak. Took it to a mate who has a garage - replaced the rear main and now after 500 miles I have the rear main leaking & the front crank seal too.
It only seams to leak whilst driving under load - engine idle it doesn't look to be leaking.
After speaking to a few people been told to check the oil pressure and crank case breather system for blockages. Before looking at seals anymore

Completely standard cosworth had a full engine rebuild with the following:
205 block bored and fitted - Mahle 0.5 over sized Pistons
Mahle std bearings / shells
Polished crank journals
Cylinder head valve guides replaced along with stem seals
Head minor skim
High pressure oil pump
Group A head gasket
Full gasket set -cometic - victor reinz oil seals
Reffited original T3 turbo as it ran fine before with no oil leaks

So today I took off every aspect of the breathing system but it's all clear - blows through fine. Ordered a pressure gauge and adaptor for the block.
Anything else I may have missed ?

cozzy jeff

iTrader: (4)

why the hi pressure oil pump?

Knuckles84

The plan was to run it in then go for t34 & greens
Aiming for 350 bhp.

Was advised to fit the better pump for when I decide to upgrade

cozzy jeff

iTrader: (4)

standard pressure pump is more than adequate for your spec

Knuckles84

So what your saying is that the pump is causing too much pressure making the crank seals leak ?

Guinnless

Is the endfloat on the crank correct ?

Adam-M

No, tbh the pressure difference is not a huge amount between them both. Are you 100% sure it's coming out the crank seal and not somewhere like the sump gasket ect?

cozzy jeff

iTrader: (4)

im sure theres only about 30psi difference ,when the pressure relief valve went on mine i had 150 psi and no leaks lol.had a couple when i got the car back though.
i was just wondering why go hi pressure for that spec of engine.

bigdel

Did you use sealant as well as the seals, or are you just relying on the seals alone to hold the oil in?

Knuckles84

When I fitted the seals I used a smear of sealant around the outside of the seal. It's defiantly coming from the centre of the seals. When gearbox was removed it was clear to see where it has been running from. Sump was dry along the back. my next move will be to rig up a oil pressure guage and do a compression test.

When engine is at idle speed the seals do not leak but after a drive it's clear to see where oil has came out and splash down the exhaust and sump

chrisa3

iTrader: (1)

did you put and sealant and the edge of the rear crank cap? sure the workshop manual says to put a small bead on the outer edge. i didnt when i build my 2wd and it leaked and looked like rear oil seal.

Knuckles84

Yep - I followed the ford Sierra workshop manual and put sealant on the rear cap joins and along the block where the cap meets the block on the side.

When I took off the flywheel the block was dry.
I'm going to do oil pressure checks and compression checks before looking at the seals anymore.

RSWilson

Hi - did you get tot he bottom of this please? I found this thread as I'm looking to establish if the breather system is blocked on my 2wd. The only item I haven;t checked was the tank type piece that drops into the block. Do you know if this is a culprit for blocking up before I start looking to remove it and inspect it please?
Thank you