Water seal failure question....

[Jim_rx7]

Was just sitting thinking.....

Water seals fail due to overheating, but why else would they fail as most cars seem to need them replaced at 60k ish.

Just wondering as my current motor had water seal failure, and there are no signs of the plates being corroded/damaged etc. (where the seal sits)

The engine itself also did not overheat and was recently rebuilt 3k ago.

I\'ve not taken any measurements of the plates etc yet, but I do have a complete spare set if any need replaced.

So basically, what are the reasons for water seal failure??

[FDAsh]

Just had a similar thing with my engine. Apparently if there\'s fuel sitting in the chambers it can attack the seals, make them brittle and they fail. Was the car flooded at all?

[Jim_rx7]

not that I\'m aware of. It flooded the morning the seals went though. Although that wouldn\'t cause it surely. Unless it had sat flooded for a period of time before I bought it?

[RobbieRX-7]

Heat cycles! Rubber goes crap over years, hard, brittle.

[pdtaylor18]

totally agree with heat as a cause.  Another factor is the type of antifreeze you use, some types if left for long periods eat away at the seals. Think its the red stuff but not sure. Its ok to use as long as you use the car regulary and change it every year.

[a.tapos]

I believe when rubber like alot of man made materials loses its qualitys when getting heated up then cooling down alot,alot like how they use heat to change the properties of metal to make it stronger and remove all the crap.