Home Hi I'm having a bit of a nightmare with a leaking rear crank oil seal on a '93 200tdi. I have fitted two genuine seals and both have leaked immediately from the wading plug on the bottom of the clutch bell housing. The seals were pushed home square about 1.5mm below the face of the flywheel housing. I removed the housing from the engine block to do this and installed the seal with the plastic installation former that came with it. Both times i installed it with a thin film of lithium grease - is this correct or should it have gone in dry? The seal is one of the Teflon OEM parts (err2532g from Paddocks) and you tube search on changing a 300tdi seal which i understand is of the same teflon type are fitted dry.
The crank boss surface was cleaned with a scotchbright and looks to be in good condition, you can see where the original one sat but I wouldn't say of was scored it is only just perceptible when you run your finger across it.
This was all part of a gearbox/transfer box change and as the original was caked in oil but not really leaking more that a few drips and there is was no oil aft of the gear box so BT fitting a new one I have made it significantly worse.
It is definitely the crank seal that is leaking as part of the change I also fitted a new gasket (with a thin film of sealant) between the flywheel housing and the engine block and when I took it all apart apart it was still dry!
At the end of my tether... Three new seals arriving tomorrow OEM and one rubber aftermarket seal but any other advice or help would be much appreciated.
