Oil leaks - Help

[Bojack]

Greetings all.

Simple question, how easy is it to replace oil seals ?
Specificaly the front main crankshaft seal ?
Is it an engine pull out job,or can it be done inplace ?

I have few tools, and 0 experience. Gotta start somehwere.

Note: i dont have the car yet, but I have options available to me however Oil leaks have given me pause to proceed.

Cheers

[Bean]

Technically it could be done in place but you would need to remove a lot.
Getting the pulley of can be tricky. I made a specific homemade puller to get it of safely.
If it was me I'd take the engine out.

As you don't have a lot of experience have at least someone knowledgeable to give you a hand.

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[Bojack]

(10-18-2018 11:16 PM)Bean Wrote:  Technically it could be done in place but you would need to remove a lot.
Getting the pulley of can be tricky. I made a specific homemade puller to get it of safely.
If it was me I'd take the engine out.

As you don't have a lot of experience have at least someone knowledgeable to give you a hand.

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Thanks for replying.

Sounds to me that i should avoid it then to be honest. I dont know any1 who could help so i would be going solo.
I could handle oil pan gasket, head gasket, proably cam seals aswell, but main crank seal and rear seal sounds like a no go.

[Bean]

If you want to replace the rear crank seal too I'd definitely take it out - as removing the gearbox whitout a lift is a pita though possible.

You'll need at least help, as there are many occasions where more than 2 hands are needed, especially for someone without experience.

Are you a handyman type character? If yes you can give it a try, just take it easy and do a lot of preparations and stay safe.

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[Dave W]

If this is your first major engine project take several pictures during disassembly. Mark both the cam belt at each pulley location and each pulley tooth. [for reassembly]
You need to lock the front damper pulley, to prevent turning, to be able to loosen the crank nut. I used a bar with a couple tabs that fit in the pulley to lock it down. Also an impact wrench would be very helpful.
The other area that is a PITA is the crank cam belt pulley. I was able to modified a on-head valve spring compressor [with small narrow thin fingers] that fit behind the pulley to be able to pull the lower cam belt pulley off.
Lube both the OD and ID of the seal before installing the new seal.
The seal MUST be straight when installed.
On assembly, lube the crank shaft to prevent the cam pulley from rusting on the shaft.
Depending on engine service, you may want to look at replacing the cam belt, idler pulley, and may be the water pump while the front of the engine is disassembled? Inspect the other seals and gaskets in the general area.
Getting to the seal is the hard part, removing all the stuff for access. It will probably take 4 or 5 hour to complete if doing it the first time. With help you should be able to reduce the time by a couple hours.
Last I would get a service manual if you do not ready have one. To make sure you get the cam timing set correctly.
Just do not rush the project and keep every thing organized.
Dave W