I have just been replacing the triple seals repacking my fly wheel and had a thought. The problem seems to be that the triple seals are not an effective answer to what needs to happen. Every time your foot is on the clutch, the drive shaft is running on the inside of the gearbox input shaft. The seals are made of PTFE (or similar) but are not sprung like a normal seal, so as soon as the wear in the slightest they let gear oil through. Also the vent does not look that efficient so, if there is a slight rise in pressure in the box due to temp the problem is exasperated. This oil is then thrown off the drive shaft onto dampener bearing outwards through the centre to the PTFE damper seal to the Kluber grease. This seal is once again a non-spring flat seal that is really designed to stop the grease getting out when the engine is stopped, not oil getting in. The seal is radial to the drive shaft so centrifugal force will push the oil past the seal (1g of oil at 6000 rpm will put 1200 g of force on the seal http://www.calctool.org/CALC/phys/newtonian/centrifugal). If an o ring groove was cut on the ID of the dampener backing (see pic) and an o ring inserted, this will stop the gear oil getting to the damper seal & contaminating the Kluber grease & because it would be linear to the shaft, centrifugal force is not an issue. The 2 halves have limited movement to each other so an o ring should last quite a while and any oil that did leak from the gearbox would still go on the clutch, but at least the dampener would not be effected. I would be interested in what people thought of this as an option and if anyone has done this in the past? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't think that will be necessary. First you need to check your thrust washer. It is the tan ring inside the damper shell as you show in your picture, and retains the drive plate's bearing as well as sealing the damper. The triple seals are different. If your thrust washer is under size you won't get a good seal at the triple seals, and the oil that escapes will end up in your damper. Please let me know if you have any questions about how to test, and also let me know what the result is. As far as sealing the damper with an o-ring, it won't work. The relative motion between the drive plate and the shell is more than you think: it doesn't go far, but it goes fast!
I wasn't logged in so I didn't see the picture at first. You def. need to do the test I describe: your thrust washer isn't as bad as mine, but it looks worn. I have a few more tricks, but first things first: let me know about how the test goes. See my new post for some time saving steps on cleanup.
