does anyone make a Subaru crank wear sleeve?

[jp233]

ok, I took my '93 N/A cases and crankshaft over to a local machine shop to have the bores checked and honed (they sure do look good, and with my calipers seem to be good). There is still plenty of cross-hatch on the bores even with about 190k on this engine.

Now the crank has a little groove in the rear end where the rear main seal goes. A fingernail will catch on it, albeit it is not "terrible". Awesome. Seems standard though, it does have a bunch of miles on it..

I know on trucks and stuff, they make wear sleeves that can be press-fitted onto the crank, so that the seal has a good flat surface for the best sealing properties. Most of these just press-on over the existing crank, which can be done with the engine in the vehicle (course, most big trucks have rear main seal retainers that hold it all together). I can't find one of those for the Subaru EJ22, does anyone make one?????

The only other solution brought up at a motorsports place, was that it would have to be tig welded all the way around the circumference of the crank, then ground back down to original diameter, and polished up. That probably means $$$$$$$$$$$$$

The guy at the machine shop said it's not that bad and a new seal will work and seal OK as-is. As much as this may be true, I want to ensure this damn thing DOES NOT A LEAK A DROP as it requires removing the trans to replace the seal or do anything else back there. I want to get it right ---- now, and never touch the damn thing again. I've come this far, and don't want to have a leaky ass.

My 94 leaks back there a little bit, but it's probably the stupid plastic oil separator /PCV plate thing. Although if I ever fix the 94 leak, I'd want to put in a wear sleeve with a new rear main seal if I'm going to go to the trouble of yanking the trans and fixing the leaky ass on that thing.

P.S> Plastic oil separator plate = worst design ever. It probably was/is a lot cheaper to manufacture than the new(er) aluminum one, and undoubtedly has made Subaru dealerships a lot of $$$ from leak repairs = probably got someone at Subaru a sweet promotion.... but fukk that stupid part!

[wfoote]

There is a fair bit of wiggle room for the seal, you could set the new one a bit shallower or deeper. Just be careful not to go too deep and block the oil return hole.

[kimokalihi]

Yeah you really don't want to go any deeper than flush because you'll block that oil hole.

Does it leak due to this wear?

[def09]

Agree with wfoot. An old crank and old bearings can have a lot of crank movement.
If this is rebuild then just try and set it in a different spot so the groove does not interfere.
Again dont block the oil passage.

[93forestpearl]

Just get a different crank. EJ22T and EJ22E cranks are one in the same.