When these seals start leaking it's not because the sealing lip has worn out. It's because there is a spring inside the lip that losses it's tension. If you are good you can remove the seal take the spring out shorten the spring to get the tension back re-install and good as new. I've done this many times in a pinch. When customers needed to get on the road and a seal wasn't available.

Rtv on the outside of the seal is not a good practice especially on the seals that have the blue sealant around the seal. The rtv has a chemical reaction with it and will not dry properly. In a case where there is a lot of pressure the seal will push out. The best thing is to clean the outside of the seal with lacquer thinner and install.

i stand corrected,thanks for posting the link.

i can not agree,the seal was ripped but the spring was intact.i will say you one thing,you are a brave man for reuseing a used seal.not something i would do.

Just sharing some hard earned knowledge. I replaced a front seal on the same Cummins 3 times before someone informed me I was the one causing the issue. Of course, they waited until I finished my long-winded rant about junk seals.

Learn something everyday. Thinking out loud here....assembling heads without lubing the valve steams properly would be unthinkable. Maybe the assembly lube on the Teflon seal creates a perfect "leak" for the valve stem.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cc...12oaAg9z8P8HAQ

Used hundreds of these successfully.

Not something a care to do either but drastic times call for drastic measures. Many many times I've ran into situations where you just couldn't source a seal for days and people need their cars...

I always wipe the inner groove with grease if there is a spring to keep from knocking it out on install and some on the lip...

Well, it's in. Used your method mike of raising the crank slightly but I did install basically dry.

Hoping to get the pistons in this week so I'll be back for more questions shortly. Thanks!