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I am working on a twin cylinder briggs 23 horse engine. I am trying to replace the crank seal on the power take off side of the crank. I am having a hard time getting the seal on the step part of the crank where it gets wider. Once I get it past that part I can tap the seal on with a plastic pipe but the seal wants to roll and when you slide it down to try again the spring that holds the seal against the crank falls out so you have to put it back and try again. Is there a easier way to do this thanks.

tim4 said:

I am working on a twin cylinder briggs 23 horse engine. I am trying to replace the crank seal on the power take off side of the crank. I am having a hard time getting the seal on the step part of the crank where it gets wider. Once I get it past that part I can tap the seal on with a plastic pipe but the seal wants to roll and when you slide it down to try again the spring that holds the seal against the crank falls out so you have to put it back and try again. Is there an easier way to do this thanks.

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I have had problems with in in the past myself. Take your time, use oil for lubrication, use a tiny screwdriver to walk the seal down if needed, try and try again. It can be a pain.

If you have an old mower shop in your area. Go done and see if they happen have their old microfiche cards sitting on a shelf someplace. The plastic cards make good seal protectors when rolled inside of the seal prior to installation. Or similar plastic sheet that is around .010 thick. Cellaphane food containers may have what you are needing.

You might want to try to put some grease in the lip area instead of oil it will help hold that spring in place we used to have that problem with automobile engines back when I was still turning wrenches and it always helped. Another thing I did was turn the seal and push it down at the same time and that helps get the seal down to where you need to press it in turning helps to keep the lip from curling.

I ose food wrap around the shaft and lots of petrolium jelly on the seal
Moving it up with a screwing motion seems to help a bit .

I put grease in the seal to hold the spring and I cut a piece of a plastic container and put it inside the seal and it worked perfectly thanks for the great ideas.

tim4 said:

I put grease in the seal to hold the spring and I cut a piece of a plastic container and put it inside the seal and it worked perfectly thanks for the great ideas.

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Aluminum roof flashing and make a small funnel either inside the seal or on the shaft with lots of grease.
That is a pain on them Briggs when the engine is still bolted down on the frame and trying to see and work overhead. Sometimes get a failure to seal.
I've noticed that some of the replacement seals for those engines DO NOT HAVE the spring inside the seal. I've had good luck taking the spring from the old seal if it's not damaged and use it in the replacement seal. I also started saving the springs from old seals. I've heard rumors of the seals without spring starting to leak after a awhile.