*!#$%^* Nose Seal!

rjcthree · #1 03-15-2009, 04:22 PM

Oh great holders of those dirty Lycoming secret techniques . . .

How do you get the crank nose seal over the prop flange? I did a moderate search, found zip - other than when to change the seal . . .

ARGH!!!!!

Rick 90432 -short block done. One almost mistake - caught.

Lionclaw · #2 03-15-2009, 04:28 PM

Rick - Take a look at section 7-81 of the H2AD overhaul manual. Hopefully others have tips, because stretching it that much makes me nervous.

szicree · #3 03-15-2009, 04:34 PM

I've only done it once while building my engine at Superior and all I can say is that they had me stretch it way more than I thought it could be stretched. It's scary, but they tell me that it's no big deal. Just lube it up good first.

Randy Hooper · #4 03-15-2009, 04:43 PM

Wrap the flange with duct tape. Lubricate the seal. I use DC-4. Hook the seal under the bottom of the flange. Use two round shaft screw drivers to walk it the rest of the way around and behind the flange.
The seal will return to it's original dimension.
Right or wrong, that's the way I do it.

Randy Hooper

LifeofReiley · #5 03-15-2009, 05:22 PM

Yep... tape the flange and stretch the seal over the flange. Do not forget to remove the spring first, then put it back in place.

Russ McCutcheon · #6 03-15-2009, 05:40 PM

Every thing you all said sounds good, we did one other thing when building our engine though, we put the seal in some very hot water to soften it up a bit first & used a special tool to stretch it around the prop flange.

Russ

LifeofReiley · #7 03-15-2009, 05:59 PM

Yep... you can even bring the seal to a slight boil in water to help. Check the flange for burrs too, if detected file them. Also, it would be a good time to fit a retaining plate to the front of the case halves. We also use Ultra Grey gasket sealer.

rocketbob · #8 03-15-2009, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Hooper

Wrap the flange with duct tape. Lubricate the seal. I use DC-4. Hook the seal under the bottom of the flange. Use two round shaft screw drivers to walk it the rest of the way around and behind the flange.
The seal will return to it's original dimension.
Right or wrong, that's the way I do it.

Randy Hooper

This is exactly the way I do it, except I use oil instead of DC-4. I've used the tool before, and found it will scratch the crank flange. I also shorten the spring about a quarter of an inch before I install it.

Jamie · #9 03-15-2009, 06:18 PM

I had a leaky front seal after about 60 hours on my XP-360. I could actually rotate the seal in place (it's supposed to be 'glued' into place').

As others have said, remove the spring and you can get it over the flange. Yes, it will cause some facial contortions but that seal is surprisingly elastic.

mculver · #10 03-15-2009, 06:29 PM

Had to replace one of these once, and a master showed me the trick...

First, go to goodwill and get an electric frying pan. It will be used once -- for this.
As others said, duct tape over the flange and grease over that.
Put some oil in the pan and heat to 300 or so, with the seal in there. this takes maybe 10-25 minutes to make the seal essentially a noodle.
Wearing gloves, fish out the seal, slap over the flange and work into place. It goes over the seal easily
Let it sit at least a day (I let it sit a week, because I was on a business trip in the meanwhile) before turning the crank.