Crank seals again!!!!!!

[1800chall_tim]

first it was the port side in 2012, now its starboard engine crank seals!!!!! and they didn't go slowly either. this summer has been a short but good season for the old challenger till about 5 weeks ago. it started out with the tell tale heavy white smoke upon start up that would burn off after about 5 or 6 minutes of running. and then its down hill from there....now after sitting for 10 days it was so full of oil it hydro locked. pulled the plugs put a bunch of shop towels over the plug holes (knowing what was to happen next)hit the starter and the towels were propelled across the shop by a jet of oil!!! making a pig sty of everything.
fullbore of michigan took care of the port side in winter of 2012/2013. i did the off season platinum rebuild deal and was very pleased with their work. their engine has been a strong, reliable, and all around great running engine. so needless to say i called them and will be sending them my starboard engine shortly.
so, i don't have any questions at this point (thanks to the great advise and expertise I've been given throughout the years on this forum). but if anyone hear has a question for me on this subject or are thinking of doing something similar with your old smoky before next season feel free to shoot me a PM or reply here. Thanks Tim

 

[Stevego]

I have been running mine that way for 2 seasons. A shutoff valve installed on the oil lines partially cures the problem. At least it no longer hydrolocks but still smokes a lot on startup.

 

[NEM513]

I currently have a shut off valve on mine since the seals on both my engines are leaking. I know the easy answer is if it leaks, replace the engines. As long as it is not hydrolocking with with the shut off valve, is there risk or harm to continue to run on borrowed time?

 

[Coastiejoe]

The valve is perfectly fine,,, Hundreds of done so and have many many hours on their engines.

 

[skylarkpilot]

Oh man I wish I would have read this thread a month ago. I bought my 97 Speedster day after Thanksgiving last year (2014)...black friday is when you get the deal, right? Anyway, the port side engine had just been rebuilt last summer (still under warranty). The day after I bought it (love warm fall days in SoCal) I took it to the lake and smoked out the boat launch...I thought Cool! It was a new engine, still in a break-in time, and the kids enjoyed the smoke. We crusied around the lake and had a good time. Anyway, 3 weeks later I go to take it out again, and port engine is totally locked up. After some investigation I pull the plugs and try to start it (without a rag over the top) and I get a volcanoe of oil all over my driveway... what a mess. The local PWC shot knew what it was and the engine has been pulled and shipped across the country for rebuild (exchanged under warranty but man labor and shipping add up).

So, is it recommended that I put a shutoff valve connected to the oil lines? Is that a normal thing that people do?

 

[Coastiejoe]

It isn't a question of recommended or not. It is an good solution to a common problem. I don't think adding a valve to a good seal will help the seal life any. It is not the oil that causes the failure, it is the shaft.

 

[Luv2Camp]

I kept my shut off valve in place even with my new rebuild. Figure at some point the seal is going to leak again so why not get in the habit of just using the valve. Gets old cleaning up a pint of oil out of the exhaust after it sits for a while!