Took apart the block and found that the front and rear main oil seals have cut grooves in my crankshaft. I've seen this happen before on large diesel engines and usually a new crank is installed. My engine had over 150k miles on it so it's to be expected. The rear seal groove feels about 0.005" deep give or take and the front groove is double that and wider. Has anyone encountered this before? If I just have the crank turned will it work with new oil seals or do I have to have it sleeved back to the original diameter?

BTW, I've been trying to upload images to this post but I can't for some reason. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Thanks.

 

you have 4 options.
1. get new seals and see if they still fit tight in the groves.
2. install the seal slightly deeper or more shallow than the groove and have the new seals run on good crank surface.
3. have a good welder weld a beed around the crank, and then have a machine shop use a lath and turn the crank.
4. get a crank with now grooves.

 

If you look around you should be able to find a sleeve kit that just slips on the end of the crank.

 

Reviving this post again. Talked to the machinist today and he said that installing the crank with the grooves shouldn't be a problem. He had a couple of Honda cranks sitting on the floor of his shop too. Since he's probably machined thousands of crankshafts, I'll make note of that but, I'm still really concerned about the grooves causing the new seals to leak. I guess what I'm looking for here is some real world assurance from those who have found this problem while doing their rebuild. Has anyone reinstalled a crankshaft with the grooves still in it and not had any leaks?

 

I would like to know this too. I'm in the same situation. What have others done about these grooves on the crankshaft?

 

I have always just installed the seal in a slightly different spot on the crank. This is a common thing as oil seals harden over time. Just immagine how many crank rotations have occured over the years.

 

When I replaced the rear main seal on my old D16Z6 years ago, it had a groove in the crank, I installed the new seal and it was leak free. Sold the motor thousands of miles later and was still leak free. That D16Z6 is now in a Friend's CRX Si and is still running strong and leak free. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

 

I have replaced a lot of crank seals on crankshafts that had grooves worn into the sealing surface and I have found that as long as the groove is concentric to the mains the seal will usually work well with minimal leakage. If there are any burrs or nicks on the sealing surface you will want to take care of it somehow because they will tear apart the seal, even if they are somewhat smooth.

 

where would U source sleeves in Aussie ????