Pawnee front seal leak

On Sep 28, 3:23*pm, Andy wrote:
Both Pawnees at the local glider club suffer from leaking front
crankshaft oil seals. *One has had several oil seal changes and the
problem is not cured, the other started leaking within a few hundred
hours of a major overhaul. *One is in original fixed prop
configuration and the other was converted to fixed pitch from constant
speed. *Both engines will exceed oil pressure redline on a full power
takeoff when *the oil temperature is above low red line (bottom end of
green range).

So a few questions for those with experience of operating or
maintaining Pawnees -

Is front seal leakage common and if so if there a known cure?

On your specific aircraft, at what oil temperature can full power be
applied on takeoff without exceeding oil pressure red line?

What do you consider a minimum oil temperature for full power takeoff?

Do you think oil seal leakage is associated with high oil pressure or
only influenced by crankcase pressure?

The guys that maintain the Pawnees are looking for some answers, and
I'm tired of flying with an oily windshield, so any help appreciated.

Andy

If the crankcase breather tube is cut improperly on the bottom it will
cause case pressure or vacuum. Breather tube should be cut squarely
and not tapered like some are done. Front seals need to be installed
with the proper tool. Stretching them over the crankshaft flange with
a screw driver, pry bar, rags, rope etc. will damage them. A cracked
crankshaft can cause what looks to be a front seal leak. This is
probably info you have already gone over but good luck.

Lane