@Old_Houseboater – I’m sorry Rodney, I wish it were that easy (I would actually prefer it was due to a bonehead move like that). I looked at your drawing a dozen more times and I don’t see how I installed the seal backwards. According to your depiction, I installed it with the groove side towards the gearbox and the flat surface on the outside (see pics). I took pictures of the seal after I cleaned the area (before removal) as well as one with it removed. The numbers printed on the seal are on the flat surface, NOT the grooved surface. You can clearly see the flat surface is facing away from the gearbox (towards the motor) as depicted in your drawing.
Your instructions were pretty straightforward, so I think it is something else. Could these aftermarket seals be out of tolerance? What about over-pressurization in the gearbox due to running the car at a speed it wasn’t originally designed for (as @AssyRequired illuded to with his comment about the rubber bellow).
In case anyone is wondering, the outer and inside edges of the seal I just removed are completely normal, so there was no distortion caused by the install. Also, I completely destroyed my seal by removing it with a pick. The metal spring in there just ripped out. These are definitely one-time use.
@AssyRequired No vibrations at all and no vertical movement in the spline shaft (which is brand new).
The car runs perfectly fine . . . except of course for the massive case of anal leakage. I am not going to install this seal again as I bought a spare. The spring is all stretched out and I only want to do this job one more time so I am not taking any more chances.
That said, I don’t think we’ve gotten to the root cause yet. It’s ironic because this whole project to go lithium started off with me just wanting to fix the VERY MINOR seepage I had from my gearbox into my motor. I’m way worse off now with many thousands of dollars gone from my wallet. Funny how it always works that way.
Funny you should say that @AssyRequired. I am a big car guy but no longer live in an area where I can have a shop (much less park them). I figured this Gem would be a simple and low stress endeavor that wouldn’t take up much space and I could still turn the occasional wrench.
Don’t mean to come across as whiney as I really love this thing and fully understand it’s all part of the hobby. I’m an attention to detail guy and just get frustrated when I appear to do everything right yet the project still beats me.
Looking at the first picture which has the seal installed and wiped clean, it looks like the seal is distorted on the shaft. Was that an illusion or was it really distorted and the seal lip slightly bowing outward on one side and the bottom?
Was the shaft lubed when you put the seal on in a spinning motion?
I am not sure it helps but I think it is fair to say the Lithium upgrade was not the cause or fix to the gearbox issue. So, maybe you can separate the costs if it helps your brain…
@dougl — I had sufficient lube on the seal for the install. In fact that’s what is squirting out of the seal’s outer perimeter (zoom in on my first photo). It seemed perfectly seated when I installed it as well as after I cleaned it up.
Most of the leakage seems to be coming from the outer perimeter. Plus the only thing that would cause the grease to bulge out that way is pressure. In fact when I poked the seal with a pick to remove it, I heard a little bit of air pressure release.
Until someone convinces me otherwise, I think the excess pressure is caused by the higher speeds we’re running the gearboxes at with the lithium upgrades and Magic Magnets. If someone disagrees, please explain why this is not the case as opposed to just saying I’m wrong.
I will explore a way to vent the gearbox case properly because I don’t think the rubber bellow is cutting it. Or I could replace the open bearing with a sealed one and install a new outer seal. That should be double the protection and I can’t see how it wouldn’t work as both the sealed and open bearings sit inside the snap ring and the rubber seal sits outside. If that doesn’t work, I could remove the Magic Magnet and return to the days if 25MPH. But that would negate one of the major reasons for upgrading to lithium.
I was referring to the seal at the shaft, not the OD sealing with the transmission housing. If it is deformed, for whatever reason, it’s not a good thing. If it was some internal pressure then you might have oil leaking around the CV joint / output spline seals.
There are many lithium conversions here and with speeds > 40MPH along with tight transmissions so if yours is from excess pressure caused by rapid heating from high speed/RPMS then it would be an outlier.
I believe Rodney wants seal put in the other way and defer to him.
Correct according to drawing, but doesn’t he say to instal it backwards?
I seem to remember that from other instructive threads. If seal was to be installed as you show it, no instructions needed.
Let’s let Rodney look at your picture. @Old_Houseboater
Spring in or spring out?
The differential is supposed to be vented. There should be a 1/8npt fitting on the opposite side from whete the motor mounts that goes to a vent line or something that looks like a mini french tickler anal stimulator.
There is an outside possibility the shaft seal boss is not contacting the seal lip due to an error in manufacturing. A batch got out where the seal contact area was too short. Fix is a Double contact sealed bearing like the out of print KOYO. This is a 100% valid fix. Email me your address and I will send you one no charge.
This is an interesting thread. Every possibility has been suggested under the sun.
Whats real. I sold over 50 of these kits over the last 7 years. If the snap ring is seated in its groove there is enough length on the shaft to engage the seal. Look at the seal surface on the shaft, It should just have a small edge chamfer for the seal to slide over. It should NOT have a rounded edge. the seal should Not have to be driven in. Lightly oil the outside and it should seat with thumb pressure. In any event the special bearing is the 100% bullet proof cure. Note: the transmission should only be filled to the bottom edge of the fill hole.
@Old_Houseboater – Could you please confirm for the record whether I had the seal installed properly? I contend I installed it per your drawing, but as @Inwo implied, was it supposed to be installed opposite of your drawing?
