2 * 2.1 SD

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Dieselman
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Re: 2 * 2.1 SD

Post by Dieselman » Thu May 07, 2026 6:59 am

The metal to use as slip sheets arrived, so I used the 0.02mm (20 micron) stainless steel sheet to help install the rubber bearing block seals.
I had ordered 0.02, 0.03, 0.04mm, but thought the thinnest would be best, as long as it was durable enough. The clearance toward the top of the bearing block and aperture is very tight.

I cleaned the bearing block with brake cleaner, then installed the L shaped seals to the block, I also cleaned the engine block and added a trace of HT silicone to the top corners, only towards the outside, where the bearing block has champers. The rubber L seal is meant to seal, but I noticed there was silicone there originally.

I lubricated the bearing block sides and inside the engine block with engine oil, keeping away from the area the silicone was added. I cut two metal slip sheets, lubricated both sides and wrapped them round the edge of the bearing block and rubber seals, pushing the seals into the V section.

Using the slip sheets as guides I pushed and wiggled the bearing block into the engine block, ensuring the slip sheets went up with the seals to ensure they didn't become stretched. The slip sheets also stopped the rubber L seals from being cut by the sharp corner of the engine block.
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I then teased the slip sheets out sideways so as to not pull down on the rubber seals. These are the thickness of kitchen foil, but made of stainless steel for durability.
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I could see a little silicone had squeezed out of the joint so am satisfied it has been compressed.

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I bolted the bearing cap, stage 1 is 20Nm, stage 2 is 60 degrees.
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There isn't much L seal compression, so I cleaned any oil out suing low pressure brake cleaner, then added silicone into the outside clearances, where I could, firstly by injecting it by the end of the seal, then also squeezing it into the joint.
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I wasn't comfortable with having used non-setting gasket sealer where the oil pump joins the block, so removed the oil pump, cleaned the sealer off both surfaces, degreased and re-installed the pump.
Having a metal to metal joint seems odd, but it is as designed. The pump is made from aluminium, so probably deforms slightly when being bolted up to the cast iron engine block and the bolt nearest the oil feed port is shanked to hold that section very stable.
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While the sealant in the bearing block was drying I cleaned the sump flange ready for re-fitting. I then cut the rubber L seals off using a 0.25mm thick shim and sharp knife blade, to achieve 0.3mm projection.
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When fitting the sump I added silicone to any engine block joints and the gasket to sump join, as the steel sump flange isn't perfectly flat.
I used non-setting gasket sealant on the gasket to engine block joint.
Non setting gasket sealant is only meant for use on gasket fibres.
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