Nfries71

Hi Guys,

When I purchased my '88 NA with 104,000 miles it had extensive oil leaks coming from the front of the engine.
I bought a complete engine seal kit from 944online.com. This included the seals, o-rings, onion skins, sleeves, basically everything that can be changed.
When changing the seals out I was very careful to follow step by step instructions, lubricate the o-rings before putting them on, torque everything to spec, etc.
After everything was all said and done there was till oil leaking.
Since then I have picked away at replacing each seal. The key slot on my cam shaft was destroyed so I replaced those seals with that. And I just replaced the seals on the lower balance shaft and crankshaft (both which were leaking) this weekend. The second time I used Victor Reinz seals because I heard they were better.
After all of this I am still getting oil leaks.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Humboldtgrin

Did you get all of the translucent seal off the back side of the camshaft and ballance shafts? We're is it leaking now? Cam, ballance or crank seal?

marc abrams

The left and right balance shaft seals are different for clockwise and counter clockwise rotation. Did you install them correctly?

Humboldtgrin

+1. That too... And the o ring behind the crank sleeve seal.

Nfries71

I did remove all of the old translucent seals before I replaced them. I have not had a chance to see exactly where the oil is coming from this time, previously it was only the lower balance shift and camshaft seal.

As far is putting the seals in incorrectly, I followed the Clarks garage manual and was very careful not to put the seals in the incorrect places. The crankshaft o-ring was in good condition when I took it out to change it the second time and I did replace it.

Humboldtgrin

Did you use the right year seals? I believe in 87 the sleeves changed. If anyone has more info on the sleeve updates on these engines please step in. I forgot. I know you all know.

mytrplseven

At his point I recommend you visit the autoparts store and buy a flourescent dye tracer kit. They're cheap and worth their weight in gold with these older Porsches. Put some in the engine oil and run the engine or drive the car for a while (about 100 miles should do it). Make sure the block is cleaned first. Use the magic glasses and flashlight and you'll see the source of every leak in the engine. It also works in power steering, transaxle and brake systems. Time to stop chasing your tail.

thomasmryan

I assumed I botched my front end seal job but it was the oil pan gasket.


Edit: do you lube the victor rein lip seals for the initial running? Assembly lube, white lithium or any kind of grease?

azbanks

Did you replace the races? They develop groves over time and will leak even with new seals. Replace the races with the seals and you should stop the leaks.

porscharu

This could be a long shot, but Clark's lists lubing the seals with grease. What type of grease are you using. I generally use the motor oil to be used to lube seals.

kwikt

Might try a Porsche oe seal instead of aftermarket. Porsche seal on my 968 is double lipped and Victor Reintz is not. Cured my oil leak.

rufrob

be sure the clean the use some 1000-2000 grit sandpaper on the bores and all metal parts. It easy to nick or scrape the metal when removing the seals. Also make sure your stretch the opening of the seals and make sure the spring sealing ring stays put. Its easy for them to fly out and you didnt notice. I also advise Curil T as a sealing aid. Its like magic.

Nfries71

I did replace the races and lubed all of the seals with motor oil before installing. I am thinking that I will try that dye in the oil to find the exact location of the leaks.

Jimmy76

Do you have any update on this?
I've just replaced my upper balance seal for the 2nd time. This time for a Reinz one. And there is still some oil drip coming from the hole of the belt cover.
In April I've changed all the seals, onion rings, sleeves and the car only did some hundred of kms. I disassembled it last week and the outer edge of the upper balance seal was oily. So I've changed that to a VR seal.
I'll disassemble the belt cover once more to double check if it is coming from the upper balance seal or not.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks

LTDzak

A clogged PCV system can force oil past any seal. Still learning the details of the 968 PCV system myself