D-4 ,7U liner seal installation lubercant

Cat is very specific in their instructions to NOT use a petroleum based product when installing liner seals.

On 3400 series engines Cat says to use oil on the upper rubber band on top of liner to swell the band ,so gess this does not apply to all the earily engines .I think ,that I remember using auto soap yrs ago on the liner seals .Not sure if thats still available ,so gess I will use liquid soap as a substitude .
Thanks for your input !

I like to use the old style tire mounting soap, nice and thick and stays in place.....any good tire shop ought to be able to fix you up.

There are also some fancy O-ring lubes that are non petroleum based.

I once had the same question on a D2 5U engine a couple years ago. On a John Deere diesel I had used JD sleeve soap and it worked great, but I could no longer get it. A Cummins mechanic said to use grease and I tried it. It did work, although the sleeves drove in pretty hard and I was really worried that a ring or possibly many might have sheared. But we got away with it. Grease starts the rubber swelling immediately so you have to work fast. I wouldn't do it again. I should have called on Old Magnet first and used his tire soap.

I also know a mechanic who uses castor oil and claims good results but I haven't seen it done.

I remember years ago when installing Cummins liners that we used brake fluid so the orings would seal in the lower counterbores.

When Cat changed their liner seals a few years ago, we started using a product sold at Ford Dealers. It's called, Silicone Brake Caliper Grease and Dielectric Compound, it's very slippery and won't scrub off the surface as the seals squeeze into place. You thinly coat the bore in the block and the surface of the seals, works perfect. Just thought I'd share that with you, I know that there are a lot of different things you can use, and people have different preferences, but if you try this stuff, you will always use it. At our Dealer it costs 21.95, and that's for a 3oz tube. It goes a long way, because you don't need to use much each time. It's a white plastic tube with Red and Black coloring.

When I rebuilt my D8 2U a couple years ago I used soap in fear that other products could cause the o rings to fail.

I remember back in the 1950's helping My Dad changing liners in a Allis Chalmers wheel tractor and he used lard for lube. It was what the old Allis mechanic recommended. Tractor ran another 20 years so I guess it worked ok.
regards Dennie

Well , I installed the liners in my 4 using engine oil ,but having second thoughts now,after Old Magnets reply ,and ordered new seals to repull the liners . I have some John Deer liner soap left over from overhauling my 540 skidder last year ,so I will use that this time .Good thing I asked this question a day after I installed the liners ,Its easy to replace these seals now only the liners and seals are in the block now.
It will be interesting when I repull the liners to see how the seals fared out using oil .
Some how in my thinking ,I thought Cat recommended using oil to expand the seals ,gess that what happens when you get older and forget what I used to do on a regular routine overhauling Cat engines !
Thats to