marcoturbo

Hi,

One month ago, we installed a brand new Porsche rear main seal (the black one) on my car and after few miles, it started to leak (only when the engine runs). We putted in with a piece of wood to install it straight without damging it and didn't forget to use Curil-T... We installed flush to the girdle.

Before dissambling the whole car to check this seal (maybe, the leak comes from the oil pan gasket...), I want to order a new one from Paragon. Paragon carries 2 "red" seals: one made by Victor Reinz, the other made by Elring (and the black OEM one...).

What is the "best" (or the less prone to leak) ? Elring or Reinz ?

TIA

Ski

I've had it happen too, but I've used both with good luck for the most part. One key on the RMS, IMHO, is making sure you get the right amount of 574 on the back part of the girdle so oil doesn't seep through the edges at the rear of the block. One way to make sure the spring ring stays on the center (thanks jwl) is to use some shim stock, thin, and form it over the rear of the crank shaft. You can then start your seal on the shim stock and work it real easy over the crank, prelubed of course.

Chris White

What shape was your crank in? many have a groove in the sealing surface from the previous seal – this can cause problems with the new seal.

marcoturbo

Ski, thanks for the tips.

The crank is in a great shape, no groove noticeable nor feelable (with nail).

mtnman82

One thing I notice with the Reinz seal is that the rubber on the outside edge only goes down about half-way. This being the case, there's not a whole lot of seal there where the notch is. The rubber goes all the way down on the Elring. I went with hte Elring, just for peace of mind - and I had heard good things about it here on the list. Thru a series of mis-cues, I wound up with 3 Elring seals (messed one up). One was made in China (maybe Mexico, I forget exactly at the moment), one was made in USA, and one was made in Germany. The German and USA made seals were noticeably 'neater' in construction, although I'm sure all were perfectly useable and much nicer IMHO than the Reinz. We'll see once I get her going again (hopefully pretty soon here).

tyro

For a guaranteed seal - Elring seal w/ a little Curil T on the OD and this seal driver (SIRtools P234):