Gel Set on crankcase halves

[Mas]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience using Gel Set on crankcase halves?

I know that it cures when oxygen is absent...but how do I know when it has set up internally?

I still have "wet" gel set at the seams where it has oozed out. Do I just wipe this off?

I thought about "vacuum sealing" the power head to void the oxygen...but that just seems a bit too extreme!

I want to fire up my rebuilt motor, but I'm just unsure that the stuff has set up & I do not want to take "two steps backwards!"

Thanks for your help,

Mas

 

[OBJ]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

The stuff will set on an absence of air. Wipe the "ooze" off. If you have torqued the halves correctly, you should not have any problems.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

When using gel seal: Case halve's must be clean of old sealer, gas, or oil. Your hand's have to be clean of all gass, or oil. If used without primer, allow 24 hour's to cure.

 

[funpilot]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

Mas, good question. I too had some oozing on my gel seal, and it cleaned off fine. Since I was doing my engine in my home workshop, the 24 hour cure time was no problem. It took me longer than that to dress the engine and set it in place. I read that the primer is hard to work with. I also read you can use too much gel seal. I think I used more than I should have, but the motor (a 1990 90hp Johnson cross flow) worked great all summer.

I think you are in good shape.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

You should be fine. We've had race motors apart, resealed them and run them in way less than 24 hours. Never a problem.

 

[Mas]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

Thanks for all the advice.

I went ahead & fired up the motor...no problems that I can see!? I didn't use the primer...didn't know one existed. Maybe next time!?

Everything is good...life is good!

Mas

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

The wet gel seal you see on the outside is what you want. It will harden in the absense of air so it hardens on the contact areas of the case halves. The gel that gets squished out on the outside can be wiped away. The gel that is on the inside will get washed away by the incoming fuel. If it hardened you wouldn't want it inside the motor.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

The Gel Seal is pretty much set at less than 24 hours - I know! One evening I bolted together a 20hp powerhead and then called it a night. While trying to get to sleep it popped into my head that I couldn't remember actually torquing the rod bolts. I was pretty sure I had, but that nagging doubt that MAYBE I hadn't kept me up half the night. When I got up at 6am I went over to the shop and pulled the crankcase apart to satisfy my curiosity. I HAD torqued them, and I had to scrape the set gel seal off the crankcase halves and re-goop it again... after only about 10 hours...
- Scott

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

Scott, you wouldn't believe how many folks have done exactly that and found exactly the same thing.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

Hi DHadley,
I think it goes back to when I was a kid. It was maybe the third or fourth motor I reassembled without my Dad coaching me every step of the way. It was a 1954 Evinrude 7.5hp that had carboned up rings, belonged to a neighbor. My Dad had prodded the neighbor to let me have a go at it - my first actual "job" working on someone else's motor. Well, I forgot to install one of the circlips that held the wrist pin in place on one piston. Motor ran great - for about 10 minutes. Then that sickening ka-chunk as it locked up and the wrist pin dug into the cylinder wall. I was heartbroken over it. The neighbor said not to worry about it - the motor hadn't run in 20 years and could collect dust for another 20 for as long as he was concerned. My Dad insisted that I make good on it - which I did. At that time there was no eBay to facilitate finding parts that were NLA, but I tracked down another block and redid it the right way. Learned a few hard lessons that summer...
- Scott

 

[mikesea]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

there is a remover that you can use in the event you need to,but I have always found a single edged razor blade and carb cleaner to work perfect.I/ worked for a powerhead rebuilder,/i would run about a 1/4 inch bead around both halves,using my finger tip I would tap the sealer kinda leaving blotches with peaks,making sure the color would end up being consistant,in this case a dark pink.after torquing ,I would look into the intake and any sealer that squished out inside ,I took a looooooong needle nose with a paper towel soaked a bit with carb cleaner and wiped as much excess as I could away.we always used a block of marble with 80 grit if first rebuild ,or 240 if done befor and surfaced the block halves before mating,of course too much is bad,but the idea was to get a grain check for squareness,i never had a seal failure,using this method

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Gel Set on crankcase halves

Scott, you wouldn't believe how many folks have done exactly that and found exactly the same thing.

I don't want to actually admit anything, but I was up awful early this morning after working in my shop late last night. The old "did I, or didn't I" thing! Damn. Maybe we should start using a checklist. Age, wonderful to have, hard to acquire, and , well, I forgot. 8)