Triumph Repair: TR7 4 speed input shaft oil seal installation., thrust washers, input shaft

Question

Oilseal Howard,

  The factory manual says to install the first motion shaft oil seal in the bell housing with the lips facing the clutch - is this a misprint ?  I would think the lips should face the source of oil - the gearbox.  That's the way the old seal was.  I've attached a photo of what I see as the lips side.   
  Also - would you recommend installing the 3 laygear preload springs - the shop that sold me the rebuild kit says no - they cause premature wear on the laygear thrust washers...

    Thanks again,

    Steve.

Answer
Hi Steve,

The seal is a double lip seal and as your photo shows does have a small minor lip (down in your photo) and the main lip with the spring on it. The "Cup" with the spring loaded lip (up in your photo) does go toward the transmission and the oil. The minor dust lip goes toward the clutch.

I worked in dealerships so we had to put everything as the factory required so we never left the springs out. That don't mean what he said is wrong. Most British gearboxes don't have springs there and don't have a problem. So he does have a point. If there is a excess end play in the lay gear without the springs you may get a gearbox noise when under a no load condition where the beveled gears would be bouncing the laygear back and forth. If your laygear does not have a lot of end play without the springs I see no harm in leaving them out.

Howard