smyllie Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 It was a big weekend, first time fire-up of my TR4 restoration in 37 years. It has taken me 3.5 years to get to this point. The good news is it ran fine, lots of blue smoke initially which cleared. The bad news is that there is an oil leak from the rear of the engine. I do not think it is the crank seal A) as this was upgraded to a lip from a scroll and it is dripping (only with oil pressure when running) from the near side of the bell housing. So my guess is that it may be the oil galley plug of the camshaft plug. The engine was built by a well known firm who I will contact on Monday, I am gutted. Anyway, reading other posts the only way to confirm the source is to heave the gearbox out which I have completed this morning. I have marked up and removed the clutch which brings me to the flywheel. 4 bolts have been removed but cannot pull the flywheel of the crankshaft. Is there a puller or a knack to removing this? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JonathanE Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 At the risk of being the blind seeking to guide the one-eyed, I can tell you how I removed my flywheel: I found a longish piece of angle iron then put it on the clutch pressure plate across two holes in the clutch cover that were opposite each other but with one end of the angle iron extending a small amount past the pressure plate and the other end extended a fair bit more (I wanted to use the long end of the angle iron to stop the engine from turning when pulling the flywheel). I then marked the holes on the angle iron and drilled them a bit bigger than the holes in the clutch cover, Next I drilled a larger hole in the angle iron on the same plane as but in the middle of the first two holes. I then put a set screw though the middle hole and secured it with a nut so that the nut and the set screw protruded a bit under an inch. I then found a washer with an outside diameter a little smaller than the central hole in the flywheel and an inside diameter a little smaller than the diameter of the set screw in the angle iron. I then placed the washer in the central hole in the flywheel and held the angle iron so that the central set screw was touching the washer and bolted the angle iron to the flywheel using two of the set screws that hold the clutch to the flywheel. As I slowly tightened the two outside set screws a flat on one then a flat on the other the flywheel began to move. After they were tight, I then turned the middle set screw using two spanners, one on the head of the set screw, the other on the nut that was between the angle iron and the flywheel. It worked for me; but if you wait a bit, someone who knows something may be along in a minute. Jonathan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 Hi smylie ~ When I changed the flywheel on my 3A I used a crowbar to lever it off the crankshaft! Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 What's wrong with leaving 2 flywheel bolts in by 3 threads and using two tyre levers to tease the flywheel off? The bolts will stop the flywheel crashing to the floor and keep it concentric as it comes off the crank. Do you intend to start the engine with the gearbox off off to see where the oil is coming from? Have had to do this when newly built engine dripped from the lip type rear oil seal - it was the size the crank had been machined, it was too large. The dribble was very obvious Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geko Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 (edited) WD 40 and few whacks left, right, up and down with a rubber mallet did the trick for me Edited September 3, 2017 by Geko Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smyllie Posted September 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 Thank you for the advice everyone. Peter, you could be right maybe it is the crank seal - as soon as I get the flywheel off hopefully all will become clearer. I am not certain that I would be able to see sufficiently behind the flywheel to determine where the leak originates while the engine is running. I will keep you posted, thank you again Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted September 4, 2017 Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 I ran the engine with the gearbox out and could see the oil dribbling from the crank seal area. Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roy53 Posted September 4, 2017 Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 Are you sure that it is from the engine as can be gearbox which i have found 3 times before. If not then run up before removing clutch/flywheel as Pete said. Roy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smyllie Posted September 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 Thanks Gents, the gearbox was pretty much empty so fairly certain that it is coming from the engine. There were no traces of oil on the clutch cover or the front face of the flywheel. Hopefully I will get time tomorrow to diagnose the source. Will keep you posted. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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