Good to know that there IS a difference between internal combustion and diesel engines.
Other than that, Lubri-Plate is good stuff.

Sure wish I'd had all this info before I put those sleeves in. I wonder that trucker1 has a spec for Lubriplate, straight from Cummins, while I went to the Cummins service bullitens at a dealership shop in Pasco, WA which clearly stated "light engine oil" and warned to put them in right away because the oil will make the O-rings swell. (I'm amazed they don't have any bulletins on Cat truck engines. Didn't Sterling trucks use any?) I know none of the people involved are ones to deviate from the fact. I just don't understand why the variation in these bulletins.

Question: Would you pull these sleeves now and do it over? I'm waiting for parts anyway, but it is about a day's work at this point.

I wouldn't re-do it. My $.02.

The key info would be the type of material used to manufacture the seals. Rubber is sensitive to oil.....but if the "O" rings were not allowed to soak/swell before installation so that they did not seat properly I'd think you'd be ok. They certainly will be exposed to oil on the lower seal/seals when operating the engine.
You could put a low pressure hydro test on the cooling system before you complete assembly just to be sure.

If you have a leaker it's pretty easy to tell.....those are coolant drops hanging off the liner.........and the culprit seals......only took 50+ years to occur:)

Good idea. I'll make some plates to cover the head openings, fill the block with water and put about 8 psi on it with air pressure. I sure do appreciate sll this discussion this has stirred up. I got updated here in pretty short order. I may not have occasion to do another major, but if I do i won't be 30 years behind the times. Thanks, all,

Jack

Jack, I found the spec for Lubriplate in the Engine Shop Manual for my engine, a 1998 N14, and it was for lubricating the bearings, not the liner "O" rings. I had rebuilt a previous engine, 1982 Big Cam 350, and that book said as you said, use motor oil for the "O" rings, but don't lube them until you are ready to slide them in, as the do swell from the oil, I guess swelling after they are in helps them expand and seal off the bottom. I know when you pull the liners out, the rings almost jump out of the grooves. Back then, they said to lube the bearing shells with motor oil, so that is what I started to do with the main bearing shells I was rolling into my N14. I happened to look in the manual for torque specs, and that is when I found the recommendation to use lubriplate for lubing the bearings during assembly. My book for the N14 now recommends using vegetable oil to lube the "O" rings for the liners, and NOT to use motor oil for that, but I wouldn't feel bad about using the lubriplate for that too.

George

The number Lubri-Plate to use on the liner seals is the white "105"and I worked for the Cat dealer starting in 1956 for 36 years in the engine dept. and that,s what they used when I came and I used it all my time there and they have since as far as I know.

If it was me I wouldn't worry about the liner seals now as long as they went in without trouble. The modern diesels I work on have certain o-rings that swell during engine operation, mostly in areas that are exposed to crankcase vapors regularly. If the components are left alone they seal properly, but if disassembly is necessary these seals will pop out of their grooves and you will never get them small enough to work again. Of course the material the seals are made out of makes a big difference on how it reacts but like OM said the bottom ones have oil getting at them anyway, I would think they should be OK.

"Toby wrote:

If it was me I wouldn't worry about the liner seals now as long as they went in without trouble. .

The moral of the story is any kind of slickem is good, just don't put them in dry.

I love this site! I've just stirred up more discussion than I've been privileged to in the last thirty years! That's about the last time I had to do a wet sleeve job--my nearly new JD lost compression and we couldn't get it back by running on the dynomometer. Just too much idling on a new motor (while running a harvest crew) ruined the seating on the rings.

My thanks to all of you who tossed in their experiences for consideration.

My cam bearings should be here middle of next week. I got the puller plates turned out so I can change the bushings immediately when they show. Will be back with some more pics.

Have a great weekend,

Jack