Gear lever oil seal

[BooG]

Replaced it yesterday. That has to be one of the most straightforward jobs ever!!
Question though....how far in should the oil seal sit? I have sat it just level with the lower edge of the chamfer. The original one was further in, but there was muck and all sorts in there, so it didn't seem right to push it that far in.

[Justin B.]

The way I look at it is that any spot where it doesn't leak or won't fall out should be good!  A lot of the time a seal will wear a small groove in whatever passes through it (I'm talking generalities with shafts, etc.) and it's accepted practice to install replacement seals into a different position so the seal lips will contact a fresh spot on whatever...

[weasel01]

I just replaced mine too.
Mine was sitting close to the outer edge and had a ton of goop in there.
It seems like there can be added resistance or binding if it's too far out.
I think a common distance is nearly 3/8" in but not actually touching the rim in there.
I noticed an immediate improvement in shifting after the clean out and change over.

[bruce_launceston]

I replaced mine many years ago and the new one still leaked. I bought another seal with 1mm smaller I.D. and that one is still working fine with no noticable effect on shifting. After all the shaft hardly has to move, just a few degrees up and back. As for how far in, I don't remember but as long as its beyond the chamfer and sitting square it should be okay.