Re: Rear Main Seal Installation jig

So I was helping my friend in Atlanta change engines in his Boxster and we were having issues with the RMS. We watched a couple of Internet videos on how to install it, which showed the technician using a wood block and hammer to tap it in using a circular pattern. We tried that but couldn’t quite get the finesse adequate to seat it properly. We would tap in one place and the seal would sink in a different place. Being a woodworker, my first impulse was to create a jig. So I drew up plans for a jig that would apply equal pressure over the entire seal.



But then we were at home depot and stumbled across a 3 inch PVC connector (see photos). My buddy thought that might make a suitable jig. The connector comes with a lip in the middle of it and the diameter is the same as the RMS. The lip accommodates the flywheel bolts. We put the pipe on the seal and screwed the bolts hand tight as they grabbed the lip of the PVC connector. Then we turned each ¼ or ½ turns in a star pattern. The seal went in evenly.



We even marked the jig with a line to indicate the proper depth of 13mm, which is the recommended depth for a rebuild rather than the factory 11mm. This was one of our other problems. We were measuring 13mm from the case and not the end of the shaft. Oops.



The jig worked remarkably well. For $1.18 it saves a lot of angst and repeated trips to the Porsche dealer for another $24 seal.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Great find, and great tip!

Do you have the sku number of that PVC pipe piece?

Regards, Maurice.

5935 is stamped on the end of the pipe.

Quote
Byron in Atlanta
5935 is stamped on the end of the pipe.

Thanks, Byron.

Regards, Maurice.

If you belong to PCA, you should submitt this write up and photos to your local newsletter or to Pano. I'm sure many backyard mechanics would benefit from it.

“Anything really new is invented only in one’s youth. Later, one becomes more experienced, more famous – and more stupid.” - Albert Einstein