[Leucosticte]

I decided to make this post in case anyone here runs into the same issue as me and is also confused.

Last winter a did a bunch of work on my car, I replaced the leaking oil pan gasket and the front crank seal which was weeping. I used the special Loctite sealant and primer and followed the TIS instructions the best I could. I also used a crank seal tool kit I got off Amazon which worked surprisingly well.

Yesterday I was under the car and had the undertray off and it looks like my front crank seal is leaking again! This is exactly a year since I replaced it, I doubt that it's install error since I assume that'd become apparent much faster and I can't think of anything I did wrong, to be honest.

I did some digging and it seems like the crank seal that I bought off FCP (Corteco, labeled as OE) is actually made in China and the Genuine BMW one is made in Germany. Now, manufacturing in China has come a long way from what it once was and but I can't help but think that this may have had something to do with this.

I've ordered both the Genuine BMW one and another Corteco one to compare the differences side by side, I will update this thread with pics once I get them, hopefully before the weekend. When I did my oil pan gasket it felt as though there was a quality difference between Genuine BMW and Elring, with the Genuine BMW one being superior, so I went with that.

On another note, does anyone know if the Loctite sealant/primer goes bad overtime? I bought this stuff back in 2022 during my manual swap when I did my rear main seal and that's been dry (knock on wood) for the past 3 years now. I couldn't find anything obvious on this but I've just left it in my garage which is unheated, maybe that wasn't a great idea considering how expensive it is.

Does anyone else have any ideas as to what I might have done wrong here and how to prevent it next time?

[ryan stewart]

Ive noticed FCP does like to push things as OE when they arent, like in their kits they will absolutely sub for a truly 3rd party fault. And while chinese manufacturing can be much better its really on whoever is slapping their name on the part. Iphones can be made there and to a high standard because Apple holds them to a high standard, if Corteco isnt holding them to the standard then those parts could easily be sub-standard.

Big jobs like those I always go truly OEM or a known every high quality aftermarket (like on my BMW bike the shaft seals have a better aftermarket design). The savings are never worth the possible effort.

Being said, a leak on something like that a year later could possibly be something else, including a bad install. Its a wear item and if there was some scoring or something on the shaft, even minute, it could introduce additional wear on the seal itself by basically slowly grinding it. Or if you accidentally got some dirt in there (which is why you watch professional videos they are insane about cleanliness, using a plastic ring for install, gloves, etc. Its like cams where people will be like "I only have a little surface rust!" but that little bit of pitting is basically slowly grinding everything down like 4000 grit sandpaper in a high speed rotary.

[Leucosticte]

Originally Posted by ryan stewart

Big jobs like those I always go truly OEM or a known every high quality aftermarket (like on my BMW bike the shaft seals have a better aftermarket design). The savings are never worth the possible effort.

Being said, a leak on something like that a year later could possibly be something else, including a bad install. Its a wear item and if there was some scoring or something on the shaft, even minute, it could introduce additional wear on the seal itself by basically slowly grinding it. Or if you accidentally got some dirt in there (which is why you watch professional videos they are insane about cleanliness, using a plastic ring for install, gloves, etc. Its like cams where people will be like "I only have a little surface rust!" but that little bit of pitting is basically slowly grinding everything down like 4000 grit sandpaper in a high speed rotary.

Yeah, I guess I should have been more digilent in my research but I figured that if it was marked as OE on FCP it would've been fine. I should've learned my lesson when people complained about Mahle Behr radiators on FCP that were marked as OE.

I did try my best to be clean with the install. I cleaned the bore from the front and back since I had the oil pan off liberally with brake cleaner. I coated the crank itself with a thin coat of new oil like TIS says.

Interesting point you make about there possibly being scoring, I guess when I take the old seal off I'll take a look.

[e90yyc]

Man I’m sorry to hear that…

I looked back at my order history and funny enough I opted for genuine BMW rear main seal out of fear of having to do it over haha.

That said, I’m with ryan stewart in that it could be something other than just the part.

It sucks to hear the Corteco part was made in China, ugh. Part of what makes OE so sweet is that it’s supposed to be THE part that was on the car, which up until recently meant proper quality European made stuff. (I sense a lot of genuine parts purchases in my future—unless of course it’s a low-labour install I guess…)

On the subject of the Loctite sealant, I really don’t know. Has it been frozen? I don’t know whether that would affect it, but if this stuff is anything like CA adhesive, it likes cooler temps. If cold but not frozen, you’ve likely extended its life if anything.

Fuckin Mahle Behr too, haha…

Glad the RMS is holding up! I thought mine was leaking not long after doing it and it bummed me right out, but turns out I was just burning a little extra oil, haha…

[Leucosticte]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Man I’m sorry to hear that…

I looked back at my order history and funny enough I opted for genuine BMW rear main seal out of fear of having to do it over haha.

That said, I’m with ryan stewart in that it could be something other than just the part.

It sucks to hear the Corteco part was made in China, ugh. Part of what makes OE so sweet is that it’s supposed to be THE part that was on the car, which up until recently meant proper quality European made stuff. (I sense a lot of genuine parts purchases in my future—unless of course it’s a low-labour install I guess…)

On the subject of the Loctite sealant, I really don’t know. Has it been frozen? I don’t know whether that would affect it, but if this stuff is anything like CA adhesive, it likes cooler temps. If cold but not frozen, you’ve likely extended its life if anything.

Fuckin Mahle Behr too, haha…

Glad the RMS is holding up! I thought mine was leaking not long after doing it and it bummed me right out, but turns out I was just burning a little extra oil, haha…

Funnily enough, I did the same thing as you for the rear main seal lol. I went with Genuine BMW because I was worried about doing it again. That install was definitely 100x more sketchy than this one so it's funny how that one has held on (again knock on wood) compared to this one.

Idk if it's been frozen at all since I have no idea what the freezing temperature of it is. I'd like to say no? I'll take a look at it and see if it got separated or anything.

I'm fine with buying Genuine BMW but the price tag hurts a bit. It's unfortunate that since our cars have reached total roached out shitbox status for the general population that OE manufacturers are either stopping production or relocating it.

If the sealant is still good, I'm planning on redoing it this weekend, I'll be sure to try my best to be extra careful this time... but like I said, it's hard for me to think of anything I did wrong.

[Leucosticte]

Ok, so here's pics of the two seals that I promised, you can tell that they are very different in construction. The Genuine BMW one seems to be made of a lower friction material, I guess to aid in installation, meanwhile the Corteco one just feels like normal rubber.

I hope the leak is a result of the differing seal quality.

View post on imgur.com

[e90yyc]

Thanks for posting those pics!

I know I sound like a broken record here, but if it was in fact the seal, that’s so so shitty. I’ve used a ton of Corteco and Elring products, but all of them were made in Germany (or at least not China).

[Leucosticte]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Thanks for posting those pics!

I know I sound like a broken record here, but if it was in fact the seal, that’s so so shitty. I’ve used a ton of Corteco and Elring products, but all of them were made in Germany (or at least not China).

Yeah, I've also used a lot of their stuff that's *usually* made in Germany and have never had problems. However, I did notice differences even on the things that are made in Germany, such as the oil pan gasket. Genuine one looked and felt higher quality to me compared to Elring.

I checked the sealant out this morning and it still looks good to me, so I'll be doing the job again this weekend with the Genuine seal.

[e90yyc]

Nice man!

Interesting on the genuine versus OE. I know for some stuff the consensus is to go genuine (like the OFHG due to change in material to Viton), but I’m not aware of many others.

Whenever my OPG leaks next, I’ll be sure to look closely at my options haha!

Good luck with the job. Mine is still dry at 230k miles…

How’s the job? I imagine a bit tight, but a lot easier than RMS haha?

[Leucosticte]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Nice man!

Interesting on the genuine versus OE. I know for some stuff the consensus is to go genuine (like the OFHG due to change in material to Viton), but I’m not aware of many others.

Whenever my OPG leaks next, I’ll be sure to look closely at my options haha!

Good luck with the job. Mine is still dry at 230k miles…

How’s the job? I imagine a bit tight, but a lot easier than RMS haha?

The clearance isn't that bad with the radiator fan removed, remember that it's behind the crank pulley, so you're going to have lots of extra space once that is removed.

I bought a toolset off Amazon that made the whole thing easier, the worst part about the job is getting the old seal out. You have a threaded cup that's supposed to bite into the seal, once it bites, you have a bolt that you tighten to start pulling it out. Getting it to successfully bite in a massive PITA, I think it took me 3-4 hours my first time...

After it's out, you just clean the bore, coat the crank with a light coat of oil, apply Loctite primer and use the press tool to install the new seal. I'm not sure how you'd install it without that tool to be honest. Then you inject the sealant and primer over it again.

I make it sound simple, but I might have messed it up so who knows.
I think it's more difficult than the rear main seal solely due to how hard removing it is.

[Mike K]

It would be great to see a few images of this procedure!

[Leucosticte]

I think there's already a writeup on this that I followed along with the TIS procedure.

[mainbearing]

Shit, I thought Corteco was one of the reliable brands. I guess not. A specification is a specification, no matter where the parts are made, so I thought.

Looks like Corteco is a Freudenburg brand. maybe the Germany one was made by Freudenburg and the aftermarket by Corteco? LOL.

I was not too impressed with the Corteco engine mounts. Not sure where they were made tho. But I do not think I will spend for genuine mounts anyway; however main seals are a different story. Yeah those get genuine just in case.