blown oil seal?

[Gizmoman]

Feels pretty silly asking this but if I happened to overfill my crankcase by nearly a quart, could it permanently "blow" the rear main seal?

I have since removed the excess and haven't driven it again (waiting for my new WAIC). There was oil dripping from what could be the rear main after my last drive. As the seals are new and still resilient, I'm hoping that it will be fine, but welcome your opinions.

[vanbcguy]

Probably won't have damaged it but leaks when over full are pretty common.

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[ORCoaster]

Lower case isn't really pressured up to the point it "blows a seal"  It would be charging out the dipstick hole before that.

[745 turbogreasel]

Around 12 quarts, the motor gets hard to turn, but i'd wager  unless you reused a 14 year old seal, you are fine..

[Gizmoman]

Thanks,
I was probably at 6 quarts. I have the odd 50* dipstick chingus coming off the weird pan for access through the licence plate (Vanagon). The stick fits quite tight and has an O-ring seal. I think the setup is for the 1.6 and this is a 1.9. Doubt it makes any difference in the oil volume though.

[akcoalroller]

generally the rear main will spit oil for awhile when it is overfull until it is to normal. clutch may get wet. the rear mains especially leak from synthetic oil being overfilled. not sure what you are running though. just good to keep in mind. the engines I work on all the time up here are ran by a bunch of non-mechanically inclined people so they overfill constantly...

[Gizmoman]

generally the rear main will spit oil for awhile when it is overfull until it is to normal. clutch may get wet. the rear mains especially leak from synthetic oil being overfilled. not sure what you are running though. just good to keep in mind. the engines I work on all the time up here are ran by a bunch of non-mechanically inclined people so they overfill constantly...

I'm mechanical, just maybe too inclined
The clutch did feel a bit odd though.

Thanks for the feedback

[akcoalroller]

Well usually you can look around the tranny, I can't remember but there may be a plug/cover on the bottom to open for adjustment and u can see if there is oil inside. It may need cleaning. You can smoke a clutch with it being nasty

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[Gizmoman]

There is a sheet metal cover but its sandwiched between the block and tranny.
Would douching it with brake-keen (probably the whole can) help? I have access through the timing hole in the top-right side of the bell-housing.

BTW, I just switched over to synthetic as I believe it's broke in now.

[Dakotakid]

For starters, did you sniff your finger when examining the oil that leaked. Engine or gear?....and no dirty jokes needed or intended.

As you probably understand, it is very difficult to have one of these engines not weep oil somewhere (like oil pan, vacuum pump, head, intake manifold gasket, etc......the list goes on and on).

And, the oil generally manages to find it's way toward the trans-end of the block (either vibration, slope....whatever!). And, you don't really notice all that until something "important" happens and then one's mind begins to drift.

When I rebuild one of these engines, I generally try to fit a gas (two-piece) tin divider plate in instead of the usual one-piece diesel. The later model (Mk. II) gas tins had a removable bottom section that is really handy to inspect (or make an attempt to inspect) crap like this. It works for ME!

If you decide to spray a big can of brake clean down the timing hole, I would do a 1/4 can or so at a time and allow it to have time to run out the bottom and not "pool-up" and give it a chance to touch the bottom of the arc of the clutch fiber. You can remove the two small tin bolts (if you still got them in there) and gently spread the tin open with a flat-tip screwdriver. I have done this in the past. Brake clean will not damage the plate (as you well know) but a mixture of the two can.

If you are aware of all this....dismiss it all. You asked....so I assumed you may not.

The ability to worry about things can play with one's head. And, praise the Laurd that I never got bit by the Vanagon bug!

[akcoalroller]

^^ this is definitely the right choice. spray it to clean, go run it, then repeat if you think you have all the fluid out. brakleen by CRC in the red can is probably the best for easy cleaning. any idea if there was oil on the clutch yet? 

[Gizmoman]

Wow - that's some informative advice from everyone!
I'll do the sniff test tomorrow, and do the washing in smaller doses - that is, after I can determine the source. Your'e right, during the rebuild, I was extremely focused on "no leaks" for every part I installed. Needless to say, I'm still chasing them. To me, a machine that leaks is broken and I will get them fixed or sell it.

A good start may be to never over-fill it

Thanks,

[akcoalroller]

haha good call. try not to overfill. the engines i work on up here are very similar but are generators and its not too bit of a deal for the real main to leak a bit. we run 0w30 year round to make the engines easier to start and they just constantly leak. most of these engines werent meant to run it anyway so a brand new engine leaks right away as soon as we put in the oil :b the beauty of working in the COLD. i think you will be fine with yours. just need to make sure that oil and brakleen can get out of there easily.