kevin12973

I did a front engine reseal a month ago. Bought the kit from a well known supplier we all know. The crank seal, part #999 113 331 50 was not a very tight fit. In fact I could push it on by hand but barely, almost had to use a hammer. I did not like it much but thought it must be right.
Well today on the track it popped out about 1/2 way and sprayed oil all over the engine bay. And worse than that, all around Thompson Speedway (1.7 miles), mostly off line. The speedy dry bill will be scary.
A porsche mechanic came by to see what the issue was and we quickly diagnosed it as the front main seal. I told him I just did the whole front engine reseal. So he asked if the seals were aftermarket. He said they had a problem in the past with aftermarket seals not fitting tight and they always use oem now. I will be sticking with OEM because I cant afford to go cheap.

drift a 944

I'm not sure if I've had much experience using aftermarket seals, I think all the seal kits we use at the shop are OEM but I'm not certain. But anyhow, sometimes there are different size seals in the kit, that will fit too loose or tight.

I always check the sizes on the old seal, and then compare them with the new seal. Without doing so it's very easy to confuse a 47mm seal with a 48mm seal, for example.

There should be three sizes on each seal, the inner diameter, outer diameter, and width. Maybe not in that particular order. But they need to be exactly the same as the old seal that was removed or they will not fit quite right.

Next weekend I'm doing another front seal kit for a customer. If they happen to be aftermarket seals I'll report back with the fitment quality.

MB968

All seals with a particular stated size do not have the same OD. There is quite a range of actual size of the OD based on how the seal was originally used. Here is an example. Note that the actual OD is .14mm larger than the basic size. I had the same experience as Kevin, returned the seal for another brand which was a better fit, though I think I put some rtv on the OD just to give it a little more bite.

wildcat077

The biggest supplier of aftermarket seals/gaskets would be Victor Reinz which is also an OEM supplier, i've never had any issues with their products,other brands i probably wouldn't use !

Cheers
Phil

Noahs944

Damn brother. That sucks Thanks for the heads up.

kevin12973

FYI- that part number for the front main seal has been preceded by this number- 999 113 331 40. Dimensions 38x52x7 mm

Paulyy

+1

Porsche doesn't use any glue on any seals unless specified in the manual.
I have resealed my whole engine. no glue used. no leaks.

kevin12973

After degreasing and pressure washing I tore down and popped out the crank seal, wasn't hard since it was over half way out of the pump cover. So I looked at the seal and it reads 38 X 52 X 7. Also had a clockwise arrow. Color is brick red. So I know I was sent the right part and I installed the right part. Problem is part is ****. Going to cost me probably $500 in speedy dry when the track sends the bill out.

thomasmryan

i used the hamburgtech seals as practice seals about 1000 miles ago. they pushed in by hand which seemed odd.

the victor rein /crp/conti seals are on the shelf ready to go at the first drip.

kevin12973

Thomas, you are flirting with disaster. When that crank seal pushes out its an oil grenade. What a mess. If you now you will be changing anyway, do it before the mess.
By the way, got the bill for 1.7 miles of speedy dry at Thompson Speedway. $60. So relieved

MB968

The replacement seal that I got was a Victor Reinz. It was a better fit, but still seemed a bit loose to me from my experience. We never designed seals to use adhesive in my professional world. I would also never use rtv/glue, but felt I needed the added safety factor. I had to assume I had the correct VR seal, as it had the correct Porsche part number, but the fit didn't seem correct to me.

The point of my earlier post, is that unless you know the exact VR part number, they probably sell several seals with the identical 38x52x7. We need one with the correct oversize to the 52 dimension so there is the proper interference fit to deal with the variance in ID of the oil pump, and to accomodate the thermal changes in fit as the engine is either cold, or hot.

kevin12973

Stopped down to my porsche dealership and picked up the new crank seal. Funny thing, the new seal is not 52mm, it is stamped 52.2! So I measured them and I got 2.055" on the aftermarket and 2.057" on the OEM seal. That was the difference from a "push in by hand" and a pound in with a seal driver!
Started it up and everything looks great! Although as I was putting the starter back I noticed the bottom bolt to the clutch slave was broken off Fixed that mess and all is good! Ready for Lime Rock this saturday