The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 engine squeal update

Brought the engine up to operating temperature and the squeal started. Took the belt off--no change,still squealed.Shut off, sprayed WD40 on the speedi sleeve on the harmonic balancer. Started it up--no squeal at all regardless of rpm. Just a slight metallic scrape.
I guess the lip seal in the timing gear cover is the problem. Does everyone agree? Obviously I am not thrilled.Looks like more of a project than I had hoped.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Howard

I would assume that you know you can replace the seal without removing the timing cover.

Simply replacing the seal may not solve the problem if the timing cover isn't aligned properly, causing the seal to be off center.
Carl

I may be wrong, but isn't there oil circulating right behind that seal? So its being oiled all the time? If so, maybe that squeal is trying to tell you something?

There should be some oil splashing around behind that seal. The oil holes squirt some oil to lubricate the timing gears. Some one else mentioned the alignment of the timing cover.

It's been close to 30 years since I've worked on the old 235, 261 but seems like you do have to make sure the timing cover is aligned properly so that the balancer seal is centered.

Depending in the year model 235 there may be a spacer between the timing gear and the balance, but not sure on that. If there is supposed to be one and it is missing, the balancer may be too far back rubbing on the cover.

Sounds like it may be time to remove the cover and see what the noise is.

Yeah, if the squealing stops when you oil it, my concern is the little pinched off tube on the front plate is clogged. That can easily happen. But I hate to be the bearer of bad news because unless someone knows of a trick that I do not, I don't think you can even see it without removing the cover.

If you do remove the cover, it might be a good time to do the tech tip mod that allows you to take the cover off without dropping the oil pan. Start with checking the seal for abnormal wear in one location first. It was his 'squirting oil on it making it stop' comment that has me wondering about oil circulation.

Old, worn balancers (even from a 216) make excellent timing cover alignment tools so don't discard them. The shop manual specifies use of such a tool to ensure concentricity between the seal and crankshaft.

The centering sleeve that slips over the crankshaft snout on my drill/tap guide is exactly the right outside diameter for use as a seal centering device when installing a timing cover.
Jerry

It may be a couple weeks before I get into this but thanks for the tips. I will check them all out.
Howard

You can't recenter the balancer without all screws being very loose. This means dropping the oil pan anyway because of the two bolts holding it in place from the inside. Once you have everything loose, its best to use the existing balancer to center it because it has a speedy sleeve on it. Good time to check the oiler spout.

Yet another reason to reverse those two bolts and drill and tap them for access from the front.