944v8inDFW

Hey All;
Hate to beat this to death... but. Recently replaced an opti and have an oil leak definatly above the crank. It was leaking before i did and it it was a motivating factor to change the opti in the first place. I cant stand leaks! Anyway is there a "new and improved" seal for the opti? Like a crank type seal with spring tension sealing lips. Reason i ask is because the one i just put on looked and acted pretty hard. And just was like a flap more than a seal. It was a GM part number new one.12552428 was part number. The one that came off was the same design and was a Felpro i put on sometime back when i did a cam change. The opti on now is a new one so i am sure no nicks or what ever in the surface. Seal was nice and square and bottomed. I am not ruling out WP drive seal at this point.
Any tips like brand names that seem to work better? I will confirm 100% this time it is an opti leak before i pull it all the way down. Cheap to change just about $5 worth of gaskets and some time. Maybe buy one of those tracer dye kits, the UV light thing?? Again looking for help, cant park car in drive, new cement and GF will have a ******** if it trash it up in the first 2 months! So if not for me, the sake of my left ******** all advice welcome.
Thanks

96redformula7

I replaced the opti seal to partially fix my oil leak. It was leaking from the opti area and I had to pull it all apart for a second time to pull out and switch the seal.

However my car is still leaking but it is leaking from the front of the intake manifold and leaking behind the waterpump down to the side of the opti onto the metal bar below the opti. So be sure it is coming form the optispark.

944v8inDFW

Thansk for the quick reply. Definately the opti or WP seal engine is dry at intake and at Crank seal. I used some carb cleaner on both. Ran the car a few. Looked and could definately see a oil streak coming from opti or WP area. I may buy an new opti seal and take some measments on it and the opti shaft see if i can match it up to a crank type seal. May be hard because of the size.


by oil leaks

shoebox

The GM seal you list works fine for me. Never a leak. You must keep the seal parallel as you drive it on. If you bend it, it will likely leak.

944v8inDFW

I will try once again this weekend. God I hate oil leaks. You think a replacemt from Felpro or one of those? I may machine a nice tool for install or something. I have a mill and a lathe. Does GM have a tool install? I am old and shaky so anything helps
Did i mention I hate oil leaks?
Thanks again

shoebox

I don't see there being any real difference in the seals. Seal installers are cheap and simple. It's just a handle with a disc of the appropriate size to match the seal.

944v8inDFW

I will try to round one up, seal installer that is. See what happens!

96Jimula

When I had my WP replaced, they also replaced the WP oil seal and it leaked. They had to tear it down and replace the seal again. They had to get a special tool from the dealer to install the new seal. See if you can borrow one. It must do something different, because they prevented it from leaking when they used this tool.

944v8inDFW

They replace your opti or WP seal the second time around?

944v8inDFW

OK all got a Felpro timing set from the local parts store. GM dealer didnt have a frigging opti seal "special order only" 3-5 days over a $8 seal so i bought the Felpro set. The Set has all 3 cover seals the cover gasket and water pump kaskets aw well as the 2 small o-rings on the opti shaft. The part number is TCS 45956. Anway now the question. And perhaps the error of my ways. Should the opti seal be installed 100% dry? In the Felpro set and i quote " IMPORTANT: This (PTFE) seal must be installed DRY . Do not lubricate seal lip or the sealing surface. When i replaced the old one and opti I used some grease on the opti shaft that contacts the seal lip. Perhaps that is what went way wrong. This time i will clean the opti shaft with carb cleaner to get it oil free and install it dry. Does this apply to the WP seal as well, they appear to be the same material. Any thoughts here? In my defence "Real Men Dont Read Instructions"

shoebox

The GM seal says "install dry" right on the front of it. If there is no grease on it from the factory, don't put any on it.

Stretch out the diameter of the w/p seal before you put the shaft through it. It will soon shrink back down to seal.

944v8inDFW

Thanks Shoebox. I remember reading that on the GM seal so i didnt use any hi-tack on the metal part. What a moron I am. Well we have all heard of free mods this is a free break. Dab of greese had to be it. Sorry to be such a moron. I guess this builds confidence in the american school system READ damn it!! BTW SB i have actually refered several people in another formu to your page for pics and help. If i didnt mention it before this LT1 is in a Porsche 944 (the ultimate upgrade)! Thanks again, maybe a lesson for all that may be about ready to replace the opti and seal.

944v8inDFW

OK Shoebox you were 100% right. I installed a new opti seal 100% dry on the seal and the sealing surface on the opti and I am 30 miles leak free! Now the rest of the story... As I said, I was going to buy one of the UV light leak detectors and did. What it showed was not only the opti seal leaking but the water pump seal as well. I bet I put grease on that seal when I did the cam. Anyway changed it and following your advice I expanded it a bit bigger than the shaft to get it on. I measured the WP shaft sealing surface and couldn’t find anything a few thousands bigger to expand it. After scratching my head for a few minutes, I measured the WP drive shaft and it was .050 bigger. Before trying it, I took the shaft and polished it on my lathe with scotch bright and got it nice, clean, and highly polished. Worked perfect to get the seal expanded just enough to get the seal on without folding the lip. Made sure it was 100% oil free as well. I am sure you could polish it in a drill motor or by hand if need be. Again, thanks for pointing out the seal says install dry. By the way, the UV dye also showed my oil cap o-ring was seeping. The entire UV kit was about $20 with dye for oil, water, power steering, or gas. Anything but brake fluid. They also have inject able for the AC. $20 well spent if you hate leaks like me.