Mendola Main Seal Leaking

Bringing this back up, tranny is leaking again, and has been for the last 12 days of duning. Engine is coming out tomorrow. Clutch is toast as well. Same issue, a year ago the tranny was rebuilt after this post. I basically get about 20-25 days of duning before the leaking starts affecting the clutch.

I want to just change the seals this time, is this easily done by me?

Here are the two other things I am going to check and possibly change. I will post a pic of the vent ( I am 90% sure this is the issue)
  • I am changing the vent (pretty sure this is causing it.
  • Checking pilot bearing as well
 
Cookie said:
Bringing this back up, tranny is leaking again, and has been for the last 12 days of duning. Engine is coming out tomorrow. Clutch is toast as well. Same issue, a year ago the tranny was rebuilt after this post. I basically get about 20-25 days of duning before the leaking starts affecting the clutch.

I want to just change the seals this time, is this easily done by me?

Here are the two other things I am going to check and possibly change. I will post a pic of the vent ( I am 90% sure this is the issue)
  • I am changing the vent (pretty sure this is causing it.
  • Checking pilot bearing as well
Click to expand...
My vent goes up and joins up with my fuel tank vent loop that goes around the back of the cage where the two live in harmony. No filter on it. Just an open hose.
 
Pulled the engine, here is how much oil is sitting in the bellhousing of the tranny, crazy amount. I also pulled the screen off the vent hole, this is what my tranny builder put on, I have been cleaning it every ride and it is always dirty. Time to vent it correctly.

When I pulled the seals, there was oil between the two seals as well, confirming it is tranny fluid, not engine oil.

Seals out, time to replace along with the clutch.


tranny oil.jpg







screen .jpg
 
I would also check the input shaft for a groove where the seals ride.
 
Lets start from the beginning,
The seals are double stacked and are a pain to get out, but not impossible, i built a tool to get them out of customers cars,
After the seals are out, inspect the main shaft, if the main shaft is not polished, or has scratches in it, then replace the main shaft,
Replacing the main shaft is as simple as pulling the bellhousing and pull the E clip then the slide collar, unscrew the shaft and screw the shaft back in,
If replacing he shaft do not screw it in all the way, it needs to flex a little,

Is the Main shaft bent, if the main shaft is bent, then that might be the issue, as cheap as they are I replace the main shaft and sell the old shaft as a clutch alignment tool

Back to the Bearing in the back of the crank, the pilot bearing can be problematic, the Kennedy ones just dont work for me, I am a Kennedy dealer and love those guys, but the pilot bearings i have issues with, see if a stock bearing will work or a roller bearing with the same shaft size,

Seals what seals are you using, i stay with SK or Timken

And last is the adapter plate off on center, does it have alignment issues

Venting, you need better venting than what is shown, if the vent gets clogged with heavy oil then it is going to push out at the easiest spot, I have 3 Vents on my trans, one off the top of the Pinion housing, converted the fill on the side to a 8AN, top is a 8An and the nosecone is a 4an, up to a breather box,

Sometimes it is a mystery, for Example, i hade power steering issues, tried a bunch of things and nothing worked, at the end of the day, i replaced all of it, the Ram, the Pump, the control valve, the hoses, now it is perfect,
Sometime you just got to start from Scratch,
 
Thanks Alper for all the info, last year at this time I pulled the tranny and Wright Gearbox went thru the entire tranny. Replaced Main shaft, some gears, all bearings and seals. Fast forward two trips and it started leaking again. The only thing not changed was the vent. Pilot bearing, clutch, throw out bearing were also replaced.

Seals were easy to pull out, got both out. Off to Kartek tomorrow to gather parts.

We will see, hopefully the vent fixes it this time???? it certainly needs to vent well.
 
The vent could be a cause, but I have my doubts it will solve the issue. (hopefully I am wrong and it is the fix)

Like Jason said, the input shaft could be bent, seal surface could be grooved, but another rare but likely occurrence could be a mis-alignment between the engine and trans.

Weddle has a tool that bolts to the back of an Albins bell housing and allows you check the run-out of the engine crank to the centerline of the input shaft in the bell housing. We've had quite a few instances where the customer found there to be quite a lot of run-out and had to install offset dowels in the engine block to get everything to align properly.

The problem with that tool is that it's really only meant to install on "your" bell housing so that it is matched to the engine block or adapter plate. There is no easy way to check this alignment with a Mendeola style bell housing unfortunately.

There are lot's of easier things that can be done before chasing this issue, so I would suggest doing all of those first to see if the leaking can be solved.'

Remember to install the seals on top of each other, with the hollow ends facing the trans, and put a good amount of grease on the inner lip of both seals so they don't get hot and brittle on initial start up.
 
One other thing to touch off on, Sean has some great points with installing the seals,
I have had customers pic up seals and destroy them, i use a 1/4 pipe machined the size of the seal so it goes in smoothly and does not beat the seal up,
 
Drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the bellhousing. This will at least let the oil out and not torch your clutch next time around...
 
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