Main Front Crank Seal

I think mine might be leaking at little bit since I have a tiny bit of oil coming out from behind my harmonic balancer...My question was how much more would you have to do to install a cam? I figure if I am going to do it I should at least put a cam in since I am taking most of the stuff off anyway and later on when I get money I could always get heads and put those on.
 
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To do the front main seal, you only need to remove the balancer if I recall correctly. It would be quite a bit more work to do a cam though, because you don't even have to remove the water pump or timing cover to replace it.
 
The oil might just be coming out of the key/keyway interface in the HB. If it's just a tiny bit of oil, personally I wouldnt sweat it, but I'm on the lazy side.

The thing about the front seal that kinda scares me is that the metal in the seal feels stronger than the Timing cover. If trying to remove that seal goes bad......... well go get that cam you wanted and install it at the same time :lol:
 
I just installed that seal yesterday. All that as to be removed is the harmonic balancer. like hissin50 said, it felt like i woould break the timing cover before i got that seal out. Its in there pretty good.
 
I just did this the other day, though my engine was out of the car! :D

You will want to borrow/rent these two tools:

  • Harmonic Balancer remover (same as steering wheel puller)
  • Harmonic Balancer installer

Using those two tools for the balancer and just using a screwdriver and some elbow grease you can get that old seal out and just tap in a new seal with a rubber mallet or even better use a block of wood or steel try to hammer the seal in evenly. It's a pain sometimes it will go right in and sometimes it takes forever. :bang:

Oh and check real close once you get the balancer off, because I thought my seal was leaking too but it turned out to be the oil pan gasket right there under the timing cover was the culprit. :notnice: (Good thing the motor was out of the car when I figured that out!)

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