Okay, idiot question of the day. I've just had my engine rebuilt and installed it. When it was returned to me, they had removed the rear main seal so I bought a new one to put in.

As I am now leaking oil heavily out of the back of the engine\transmission bell housing (that little slit at the bottom), I know I screwed up putting the oil seal in. I have it back on the rack and will start dropping the tranny tonight. I know I banged up the seal pretty bad and not even sure if I got it in the right direction. I have seen a million photos of the seal in engines with google image search, but can never figure out which direction it is facing. So I went ahead and bought a new seal.

1. Which direction is the seal supposed to go in? Does the opening of the U shape go toward or away from the engine? Is it supposed to be flush with the opening or sit a few mm's in? Without buying the darn tool from Honda, what is the best tool to use drive the seal in with?

2. If I'm leaking that much oil through the bell housing, is it safe to assume I've splattered my clutch disk with oil and ruined it? I went ahead and ordered one just to have on standby. Sidenote: why are our Exedy clutches getting so expensive on Amazon now?!

 

one quick note- one of our canadian friends had catastrophic engine failure recently on account of a failed rear main seal it is believed. The oil starvation left the bearings scattered about the engine.

I do know that you don't want to gall the aluminum the seal contacts.

i can't help with the other questions you have.

good luck

darcy

 

If it's not a OEM seal throw it in the garbage. The OEM one will have a metal ring that's supposed to face the engine, on non oem ones the grove faces the engine. The install depth is .25" measured from the crankshaft, it's not the easiest thing to do.

 

When you say "our Exedy clutches" I hope you don't mean to imply that it is an OEM clutch kit made by Exedy, since the OEM clutch kit is not made by Exedy. It would be in your best interest to return that clutch kit since the Exedy kits are known to fail prematurely, ask me how I know. Just an FYI

 

Rear main seal, like photo:

http://image.importtuner.com/f/tech/...2bold-seal.jpg

Check to see if there is a groove in the crank surface. Wear from old seal getting hard. If so, you may need to shim the new seal --- so that it doesn't contact this wear groove.

 

Ah crap. I thought the EXEDY KHC06 OEM Replacement Clutch Kit was OEM. It's the clutch I've always purchased. Are you saying I should be getting a different clutch kit?

http://www.amazon.com/EXEDY-KHC06-OE..._detailpages00

 

Fortunately Amazon purchases make for easy returns.

If you want to go OEM there are several threads on which parts to buy. But for reference here is what an OEM friction disc looks like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-OEM-F-...awMz1g&vxp=mtr

Notice the spring carriers cover almost the entire spring.

The OEM clutch kit is made by FCC, not Exedy.

 

I have a question. As someone who has never removed the rear main seal, how do you ensure that you install it at the correct depth of .25"?

 

Wait a second. A .25" in from flush or from the crankshaft. I don't think I'd be able to measure distance behind the thing while sliding it in.

 

Tap it in, evenly around its perimeter. Until it bottoms out on the lower casted surface. Depth of seal to casting must be uniform around the entire seal.