Oil leak from Tach Lead

[Homsie]

Looking for some suggestions. I've had an oil leak through the Tach Lead for years now...nothing seems to work. Changed seals multiple times. We have looked at the shaft, don't see anything like a nick or score that could be letting oil through.

The only thing my mechanic has questioned is that the groove that the tach lead actually slides into seems to be excessivley long in his experience. He thinks the groove may extend beyond the seal...thus letting oil bypass.

Anyone think of anything?

Thanks

[Robert Lees]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

Homsie:

This picture shows the oil seal position in the tach housing.

Note the deliberate mistake: the seal is the wrong way round in my photo.

[allen]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

Mine leaks too. Right up the tach cable and on to my legs; a very slow drip I just had the seal replaced and it doesn't leak quite as bad. It seems to be worse when the outside temperature is high.

[hangarb7]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

Robert,

Not sure what you mean by "deliberate" mistake.

Are these seals readily available? From where? I don't see one in WagAero catalog (my wife says I'm blind when I'm looking for something anyway... )

Thanks to everybody for the quick replies every time!

Jack Dernorsek

Homsie:

This picture shows the oil seal position in the tach housing.

Note the deliberate mistake: the seal is the wrong way round in my photo.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

Jack: it was not deliberate...until I realised it was supposed to be the other way around!

The seal is a standard automotive part CR3751...try your local seal supplier from Yellow Pages. Even mine came from the USA as you can see from the photo. Cost about $3.

Rob

[bashibazouk]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

Really old thread--

probably needs to go in the permanent file of fixes. For what it's worth, there's a handy arrow cast onto the tach housing to indicate that it's a reverse thread. It's much easier to take it off when you comply with that little arrow.

I spent about 20 minutes looking at the seal and trying to figure out how it was going to fit in the angle drive before I finally wised up and looked at Robert's photo. Brilliant! The perfect repair. Hours of having oil drip on my right leg and pool on the floor are behind me now! It's fixed.

Getting the old seal out was...um...difficult. Lots of brute force and ignorance applied.

Thanks for the help, Taylorcraft Forum Denizens!

[NY86]

Re: Oil leak from Tach Lead

(Could have sworn I posted this last night...)

I don't think the seal in Robert's photo is backwards. IIRC, the original seals had a metal lip on both sides. The giveaway, however, is the spring, visible in the photo. The spring always faces the oil.