I have been chasing a front engine oil leak for some time. Finally decided to pull the prop and replace the front crank seal. Once prop off the seal looked good, with "maybe" a small leak at the case seam on the bottom. I've had oil on my starter and alternator for a few weeks. I put dye in the oil, ran the engine/cycled the prop - until oil temp was warm - probably 30-40 minutes. No leak found anywhere. So today I bit the bullet and pulled the prop. Not a bad job only I forgot to put a bucket under the prop so made a heck of a mess when the prop came off the crank. Anyway, pulled the seal - not a bad job, used a 90º pick to poke a hole in it and lever it out. This is a 430 hour engine, was new when purchased by builder. No idea if the seal had been replaced before or not. I was surprised to see it was a split seal with no spring. It was installed with pliobond I think (brown glue).
Are these a thing, or did the assembler forget to put the spring in?
Are these a thing, or did the assembler forget to put the spring in?