New water seals are cracked

[JustJeff]

I was assembling my engine got to the water seals and found two of them cracked at the seam.

I got them from Atkins. The other two are fine.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/271107_2058518376937_1063965498_32139395_3712024_n .jpg

Here is the other one
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/268442_2058523617068_1063965498_32139399_8220962_n .jpg

I tried calling Atkins but they were closed. I really don't want to put assembly off till I/they replace them. Can they be repaired?

[Pete_89T2]

Damaged in shipping? I would just make them replace them, not worth taking a chance.

[JustJeff]

I talked to Atkins, Dan I believe. He offered to either have me return the bad seals and he'd replace them. Or told me how to make them work.

Silicone sealant on those areas once they are in place. It's the same advice a friend had given me. I had read about it in the past; some people buy the water jacket directly from the source, cut it and seal it themselves.

What I'll be doing, per Dan's advice. Don't use any hylomar or crisco in the suspect area. The dry spot will be the crack, which will of course be in the intake area. Dab a spot of RTV.

[JustJeff]

I'm letting the RTV "cure" a little while I assemble other parts. I think they're good but opinions are appreciated

I put one on either side of the middle iron,that way they aren't facing each other.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/267652_2059924252083_1063965498_32140766_1597779_n .jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/269648_2059924412087_1063965498_32140767_3501694_n .jpg

[Pete_89T2]

IDK, the RTV repair may work just fine, but if it were me, I'd take the hit on my build schedule and have Atkins replace them as they said they would. Maybe if you ask nicely, they'll forward ship you the replacement parts without making you wait for them to receive the defectives back. Since you can document the damage via an emailed photo to them, they might be willing to accept that as proof enough of the defective part while you agree to ship those back ASAP. That way you can save some time on the shipping end.

[NoDOHC]

It would make me nervous too. Can you reuse the old inner seals? There is nothing wrong with that if they are intact. I have personally used 20-year-old factory inner coolant seal over in another build and they held up just fine.

If they com out intact, they are probably not brittle.

[JustJeff]

With getting nothing done on my days off I decided to be sure and send them back. My goal was to have my engine assembled and one of the subframes dropped. None of that happened and I start a new job next week. Now that I blew my goal into oblivion I'm content waiting.

They are on their way back to Atkins.

Reusing the inners isn't an option..they fell apart on teardown.

[Mazdabater]

Lol at reusing seals this makes me laugh, why on earth would you risk a rebuilt engine reusing a seal. But maybe thats just because at work if we put an o ring in, pull the part back off straight away for some reason or another, we still have to replace it again. That and i just don't trust and old rubber part.

[RETed]

It would make me nervous too. Can you reuse the old inner seals? There is nothing wrong with that if they are intact. I have personally used 20-year-old factory inner coolant seal over in another build and they held up just fine.

If they com out intact, they are probably not brittle.

That surprises me.
Typically, the white "walls" are facing in and out.
Those walls will usually delaminate from the rest of the seal, making them basically useless.


-Ted

[TitaniumTT]

I've never had an inner fire seal come out in one piece. I'm usually scraping lots of carbon and seal material out of the grooves

[NoDOHC]

That surprises me.
Typically, the white "walls" are facing in and out.
Those walls will usually delaminate from the rest of the seal, making them basically useless.


-Ted

You are correct, the seals usually do tear apart, but I did an s5 NA build a while back and all the coolant seals came out intact. The outers were too long (they must have stretched) but the inners were just fine and I reused them (no issues in 3+ years).


I've never had an inner fire seal come out in one piece. I'm usually scraping lots of carbon and seal material out of the grooves


What solvent do you use on the surfaces? I use WD40 as my anti-rust/seal loosener. Let it soak a couple days and the seals come right out (although they usually de-laminate as RETed said above).