The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Changing rope rear main seal, learn from my mistake.

OK, after sleeping on this snafu I have a question for those who know. What would be the expected consequence of just putting everything back together and running the engine for a mile or two, and then changing oil to get rid of any asbestos fibers/strings that escape the stock bypass filter. I would expect that on startup the asbestos captured by the crankshaft pinch would turn into extremely fine asbestos particles and be washed by oil into the engine oil flow with any big strings or pieces being caught by the oil pickup screen, and or filter. In the history of installing these rope seals, I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to have made this misstep. I also can't see a lot of old time mechanics taking time to pull the rope and redo the job. Actually, I'm not sure I can pull the rope without pulling the crank. Maybe, and if that's what it takes????

RonR