Side seal / apex seal groove cleanup
03-23-2010, 07:35 AM
#1
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 24
Guys,
I finished the teardown of my motor which ate a side seal just the other day. I'm now in inspection mode. I looked over the rotor, housing and side plates on the rotor that ate the seal. The rotor looks "OK" but I have a couple concerns.
1) two of the side seal grooves have a scar crossing them from the bit of seal that let go. What I mean by this is where the seal went by, it scraped along the top surface of the rotor (non-gear side) and pushed a bit of metal into the side seal groove. It's not visible, but when I run an old side seal along the edge near the top surface (as though I'm cleaning carbon), I feel it catch a slight bit at the top edge of the groove. I don't notice any chipping or other damage to the groove. Can I clean this up in any way? It seems to me that I could wrap fine sandpaper / emery around a feeler gauge and drag it smooth.
2) Two of the apex seal grooves have a similar problem. A bit of metal "pushed" into the groove, near the tip. Can I run a thin file through this to remove just a small bit of metal? It's about .001" of protrusion. I'm worried that this could cause uneven side loading on the apex seal. I'm not sure this was caused by the side seal only because the apex seals don't show any scarring of any kind and the rotor doesn't show a scar near the apex seal area... just noticed under a lot of light that the apex seal to apex seal groove clearance is not perfectly flat.
I will try to snap pictures tonight but it is very hard to visibly see the damage, you have to feel for it carefully. Am I being too ****? If the side seal / apex seal move freely and have more than the minimum clearance from seal to groove across their length should I call it "OK?"
Thanks,
John
I finished the teardown of my motor which ate a side seal just the other day. I'm now in inspection mode. I looked over the rotor, housing and side plates on the rotor that ate the seal. The rotor looks "OK" but I have a couple concerns.
1) two of the side seal grooves have a scar crossing them from the bit of seal that let go. What I mean by this is where the seal went by, it scraped along the top surface of the rotor (non-gear side) and pushed a bit of metal into the side seal groove. It's not visible, but when I run an old side seal along the edge near the top surface (as though I'm cleaning carbon), I feel it catch a slight bit at the top edge of the groove. I don't notice any chipping or other damage to the groove. Can I clean this up in any way? It seems to me that I could wrap fine sandpaper / emery around a feeler gauge and drag it smooth.
2) Two of the apex seal grooves have a similar problem. A bit of metal "pushed" into the groove, near the tip. Can I run a thin file through this to remove just a small bit of metal? It's about .001" of protrusion. I'm worried that this could cause uneven side loading on the apex seal. I'm not sure this was caused by the side seal only because the apex seals don't show any scarring of any kind and the rotor doesn't show a scar near the apex seal area... just noticed under a lot of light that the apex seal to apex seal groove clearance is not perfectly flat.
I will try to snap pictures tonight but it is very hard to visibly see the damage, you have to feel for it carefully. Am I being too ****? If the side seal / apex seal move freely and have more than the minimum clearance from seal to groove across their length should I call it "OK?"
Thanks,
John
03-24-2010, 06:26 AM
#2
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 24
Hm, no thoughts on this?
I ended up getting a small diamond flat file and running it over the slightly depressed areas of the apex seal grooves. I then sprayed clean the groove with carb cleaner, put the apex seal in and checked the clearance. Now all of the seals fit to the grooves with no more than .003" tolerance and no less than .002". So I think I'm good here?
The side seal grooves took nothing more than a piece of 1000 grit wrapped around a .005" feeler gauge, with a little work back and forth those burrs came off and everything seems OK - about .0015 on the side seal groove. After a cleaning and test fit the side seals all seem to fit properly and move up and down smoothly. With everything assembled (corner seals and all side seals) I get .002-.003 clearance from the side seal to corner seal. Should be OK, right?
I put a very slight bevel on the closing edge of the port, where the side seal nicked it. I don't want this happening again. Fingers crossed.
John
I ended up getting a small diamond flat file and running it over the slightly depressed areas of the apex seal grooves. I then sprayed clean the groove with carb cleaner, put the apex seal in and checked the clearance. Now all of the seals fit to the grooves with no more than .003" tolerance and no less than .002". So I think I'm good here?
The side seal grooves took nothing more than a piece of 1000 grit wrapped around a .005" feeler gauge, with a little work back and forth those burrs came off and everything seems OK - about .0015 on the side seal groove. After a cleaning and test fit the side seals all seem to fit properly and move up and down smoothly. With everything assembled (corner seals and all side seals) I get .002-.003 clearance from the side seal to corner seal. Should be OK, right?
I put a very slight bevel on the closing edge of the port, where the side seal nicked it. I don't want this happening again. Fingers crossed.
John
04-03-2010, 05:51 PM
#4
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 24
Yes I got the motor buttoned up and have been driving it for a week now. Runs great. It has about 300 miles on it and I'm about to change the oil. Power is good and it has good compression on all faces. Thanks for the help.
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