Raceproved Slave Seals Replacement Failure
Discussion
Eight years ago I fitted an RP Slave and it has worked flawlessly ever since
However after refitting the gearbox in June I found the release bearing was very noisy, probably because I managed to get some dirt in the bearing
Rather than chance it getting worse and causing problems, I deceided to remove the gearbox again and replace the bearing
It seemed like it would be a mistake not to replace the seals at the same time, as I had just fitted fresh friction discs, and had the flywheel skimmed
I used a seal kit that is sold for the OEM slave, and they seemed to be the right size, although it was somewhat tighter when assembled carefully with red grease
I assumed it would 'wear in' and checked the action of the clutch with the bell housing fitted, but before attaching the gearbox, it seemed OK
However when I got to test drive the car, the clutch action was very slow, with the clutch slipping for a moment before engaging
As the drive-train warmed up, the action became quicker, and I became less concerned
It was good enough for me to be able to do a few half decent laps at the Ring a few days later
https://youtu.be/g08DacPQ-Tg?t=550
However when I checked the fluid level, the fluid was badly contaminated, so I flushed it and hoped that the was just a result of the initial wear in
On my next trip to Germany for DN24 the clutch started slipping when in gear, not just in fifth, but in any gear, eventually the car simply refused to go up any incline, I couldn't even coax it the last ten miles to my hotel
The car was repatriated a couple of days ago, so I can now see what happened to the seals
It seems that they became swollen, left debris on the Teflon surfaces and simply stopped the clutch from moving freely enough to fully engage
With 20/20 hindsight it seems obvious that I should have paid for a complete new slave, rather than try changing the seals, after all the cost of a new RP Slave was dwarfed by the cost of missing DN24
Has anyone managed to replace the RP seal more successfully than me?
However after refitting the gearbox in June I found the release bearing was very noisy, probably because I managed to get some dirt in the bearing
Rather than chance it getting worse and causing problems, I deceided to remove the gearbox again and replace the bearing
It seemed like it would be a mistake not to replace the seals at the same time, as I had just fitted fresh friction discs, and had the flywheel skimmed
I used a seal kit that is sold for the OEM slave, and they seemed to be the right size, although it was somewhat tighter when assembled carefully with red grease
I assumed it would 'wear in' and checked the action of the clutch with the bell housing fitted, but before attaching the gearbox, it seemed OK
However when I got to test drive the car, the clutch action was very slow, with the clutch slipping for a moment before engaging
As the drive-train warmed up, the action became quicker, and I became less concerned
It was good enough for me to be able to do a few half decent laps at the Ring a few days later
https://youtu.be/g08DacPQ-Tg?t=550
However when I checked the fluid level, the fluid was badly contaminated, so I flushed it and hoped that the was just a result of the initial wear in
On my next trip to Germany for DN24 the clutch started slipping when in gear, not just in fifth, but in any gear, eventually the car simply refused to go up any incline, I couldn't even coax it the last ten miles to my hotel
The car was repatriated a couple of days ago, so I can now see what happened to the seals
It seems that they became swollen, left debris on the Teflon surfaces and simply stopped the clutch from moving freely enough to fully engage
With 20/20 hindsight it seems obvious that I should have paid for a complete new slave, rather than try changing the seals, after all the cost of a new RP Slave was dwarfed by the cost of missing DN24
Has anyone managed to replace the RP seal more successfully than me?
When I get back to work on Monday I'm going to throw all my slave seals in the bin .. they were made by the same company that did the RP seals and I've fitted many many sets of them over the years (my own cerbera has a set in) but obviously either something has happened to them with age or they're reacting in some way with the fluid to swell like that. Either way up they're getting binned. Sorry it wrecked your track time Paul.
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