That's exactly spot on Fred, I've come to the conclusion that the major reason the rear rope seals leak is too much rear main bearing clearance. Unlike the rubber lip seals, which put pressure on the sealing surface, the rope seal is not resilient and does not spring back when compressed. If your rear main bearing has .004" or .005" clearance that the seal will eventually be seeing after it is hammered into it’s final position. The space that it needs to seal is under pressure and it will pump oil out thru a .005” gap quite easily. This will account for the common experience that many people have, the rope seals for the first few thousand miles and then they begin to notice a drip which continues to get worse over time.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Last edited by Denny Graham; 10/23/2010 9:44 PM.
