Just drift in the Bell housing oil seal- My arse!

[GT6boy]

And it was all going so well.
In an effort to cure the leaking gearbox, I stripped the interior of the car out and got the GB and J type OD out with the bell housing: plan being to remove what appears to be the offending bell housing oil seal.
That was the plan. Once the ancient old seal had been cut out(it was as one with the bell housing- "We want to be together"), putting the new one in was not as easy as I thought.
"Just drift in with a suitable sized socket". Well that completely knackered the new seal in the process.  :X
New seal is quite a hard rubber compound- it didn't seem in the least forgiving.

Anyone got any tips as to how to achieve this straight forward task? My car is now marooned and somewhat forlorn on the drive- a magnet for all the cats in the area to pee on.  ::)

[heraldcoupe]

I've never done a bellhousing seal, my cars all have scroll seals here. The similar seals on timing covers and the like are best fitted with constant pressure, rather than with a hammering action. Last one was done using a suitably sized paint can (empty!) in a vice. No way the bellhousing will go in a regular vice, a hub puller or similar should do the job,
Cheers,
Bill.

[Glenn]

Hmm.  This won't make you feel better - I knackered 2 seals when doing mine.  Also be careful that your drift is smaller than the nose piece.  It's very brittle steel and chips easily.   :B

Maybe some silicone lubricant?  And lots of luck.

[Nick Jones]

Hi Bruce,

Don't remember this problem with mine - more a lack of sealing between the steel bearing carrier/nosepiece and bell housing!  As all Triumph gearbox parts have now been evicted from my garage I can't check in the flesh but following may help;

The trick with these is usually persuading them to go in square.  It may be easier to tap the outer rim of the seal with a small hammer and drift and work around it always tapping the high side.  Lip seals are not normally very tight in their housings - is this the right one?  (you can buy these very easily from your local bearing supplier, just tell him the OD of the shaft, the ID of the bore in the housing and the depth of the old seal - get a double lip one if you can - they seal better!)

Some seals have a big enough gap between the inside of the outer ring and the outside of the sealing lip itself to get an appropriately sized tube in there meaning you can drift again the front face of the seal rather than the relatively fragile rim.

Find or make a metal disc/washer/right sized socket and use a piece of studding and a couple of nuts to pull it into to place.  Again, holding it straight is the trick and some tapping with a small hammer may be needed to keep it true.

Finally, it is possible to bash the seal housing out of the bell housing (using a soft faced hammer or block of wood) and this opens up new possibilities, like using the vice.  There a couple of points to watch though; firstly there is a little (very little!) pin in the outer rim of the seal carrier intended (presumably) to stop it spinning in the bell housing.  Make sure it is there and goes back in correctly as without it there is a 1.5mm leak path from gearbox to bell housing...... which is very bad - I have the T-shirt for this one.  Secondly use plently of your prefered sealing poop when putting the carrier back in the bell housing - no point in having a leak-tight seal if it just goes round the side of the carrier........ and how do I know this? Yup, another T-shirt!  Just as well Toyota 'boxes don't leak....... ah well, sadly..... they do!

Best of luck!!

Nick

[GT6boy]

Right-o boys, I shall obtain a few more seals and have a go again, using the methods described. Thanks. I will let you know the outcome....

[Nick B.]

Yep - the more seals approach seems to be reasonablæe. Whenever the manual says "with the aid of a suitable drift" or "press gently" or such, I allways buy two or more seals/bushes whatever.  

When doing the speederlink bushes on an early spit - one should consider buying several extra bushes. Especially if they tend to be impatient or hot-tempered. ;D


Regards
Nick

[GT6boy]

Oh the shame of it all...
Chatting with Sraightsix today, he recalled he had a similar experiance. He recalled being mystified as to why his new seal wouldn't fit. His father had a shufti and told him it would probably fit better, if he removed the entire old oil seal! :o
I had done exactly the same and left the reinforcing ring from the original seal in place. Everydays an education as they say.... :B
You can see the last mortal remains in-situ, and then having been 'oiked out with the new seal ready to go in.
As before, thanks to all those who attempted to help me in my blunderings- just remember that next time you get on a train....

[Royboy66]

Yup! that'll be why! ;)