Upon inspecting the crankshaft of my 1991 HONDA Civic DX (D15B2 engine) which I am rebuilding, I discovered distinct narrow smooth grooves in the crankshaft where it contacted both the front and the rear engine oil seals. There was evidence of some oil leakage from those seals before the engine was disassembled. The engine has been driven 230K miles but has been well maintained and driven moderately. All of the main and connecting rod journals are within shop manual specifications. I was unable to insert my micrometer into those narrow grooves but I estimate they may be .003-.005" deep. What should I do about this?
1) Ignore the grooves and simply insert new OEM (Ishino) oil seals. Hughes Automotive Engine Rebuilding book 2nd edition suggested installing new seals but not driving them into the bottom of the pocket so the seal will actually ride on an undamaged part of the crankshaft. If so are the seals likely to begin leaking soon?
2) Have the crankshaft machined so the seal contact area is smooth. Since that will reduce the size of the crankshaft will that also reduce the life of the seals?
3) Install "rediseal" or an equivalent which contains a metal sleeve that slips over the grooved part of the crankshaft. (I have never used this approach)
4) Other alternatives??
Dennis Waller denniswaller@comcast.net

 

i noticed the same on mine. put a new seal on and it was fine.

 

has someone seen it without the groove? it may be there by design...honda engineers rock