Crank Seal Removal

[CHI2000GTP]

What's the best way to remove the crank seal? Is it as primitive as bashing it in like the trans-axle seal? Or do I need a special tool?

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[willizm]

not sure if a similar trick to the 2j can be done for a 3800 but I drill a small hole in the rubber and thread in a long screw to bottom out against the block inside. Screwdriver slowly walks the seal out.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

seal removal hook with an old credit card/rag between it and the crank snout.

alternatly you can fold back the outter lip with a flathead and with a blunt nosed flathead collapse it in

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

make sure you dont plug the seal area drain hole to the oil pan at the bottom of the seal area.
this is the path that any oil leaking from the pump gearotor will take to escape the seal area and keep from leaking.

twice ive come across the hole pluggged with rtv and a massive oil leak resulted. use sparingly and apply no deeper/thicker than the ridges of your fingerprint

 

[CHI2000GTP]

I wonder if that’s what happened with this engine. That the drain hole got RTV’d closed. Haven’t read or heard about that anywhere. I have a serious oil leak going on. Collecting all over the relocated alternator, back of balancer, dripping down the subframe.
I Should mention the car has double roller and using ZZPs special extra thick gasket. I will be replacing that gasket as well.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

i always just stacked the steel felpro with the OEM, ive found its way easier to measure the pin lengths and just grind dow the ones that are long with malformed swedges, really i think most of the "issues" are mostly legacy issues with production run variances and the slight holden vs US differences in the dimentions of the crank shoulder OD, a measurement that has no need for precision as it is a static surface of the crank.

i found this real quick, a pic of the drain hole, alternatly this hole could be plugged with excess rtv from the oil pan install....if thats the case you wont be able to blow compressed air through that hole once the seal is out

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

as soon as you get the balancer off you need to look at the seal lips and see if they are clean, no grime esp near the bottom

if there's no evindence of oil rinse paths youll want to look at other areas more carefully as it may not be the weeping past the lip seal.

 

[CHI2000GTP]

I see that hole. Knowing previous owner, I doubt it’s RTVd. But I’ll check. I’ve got the balancer off. Had to J.B. weld the puller screws into the holes cuz the threads were damaged lol. Paperweight now. The seal lips looked clean and not damaged. I will take another look tmrw, but I remember the seal looking surprisingly good. Balancer shaft has a groove. I’ve heard this can leak oil. See groove in photo.

Oil pan gasket has a mere 20,000 miles on it. That’s why I’m thinking front cover gasket.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

was the oil pan gasket rtv'd?

 

[CHI2000GTP]

Yes. Oil pan is RTV’d.

 

[CHI2000GTP]

I was thinking that pressure from me doing pulls and blowing off the Turbo, somewhat irresponsibly, has caused oil to blow through wherever and that ruined the front cover gasket. Car does have a breather.

Also of note. Using Rotella 5-40.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

if it rips the silicone sealing bead off the pan gasket carrier just slice it off at the block andget ready to rtv it.

i always rtv the pan side but i only stick to rtv theblock/tcover and rear cover joints on the top bead just for this reason, easier serviceability.
besides most pan gaskets leak on the side towards the wrinkly ass OEM stamped steel pan rail

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

pull the pump cover off and check the gearrotor ring for excessive slop in the cover, the cover may be toast

 

[CHI2000GTP]

Looks like gasket failure to me. That gasket was soaked with oil. Like a sponge. The new gasket I have is also this same thick ZZP gasket. Looks like I would need to use like 4-5 metal FelPro gaskets to match the ZZP thickness. Turbocharged400sbc you’re saying to use an OEM and FelPro together. Might try that. The ZZP gasket is sketch.
Seal looks good. But I already ordered a new seal from the dealer for $17, so I might as well put it in.

 

[CHI2000GTP]

For certain car parts, I go straight to the dealership. Seals fall into that category. Went to the Haggerty dealership and got a new crank seal from them. What they gave me is a completely different looking seal. Apparently they redesigned the crank seals for these cars to there's no lip. Not sure I trust this redesign. Photos below. Original seal > FelPro seal > Dealer seal

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

yeah its the wear in place teflon seal. that is the newest update. it goes into a pocket so itll stop at the step in the bore

 

[CHI2000GTP]

yeah its the wear in place teflon seal. that is the newest update. it goes into a pocket so itll stop at the step in the bore

Got it. Thanks! I had the guy triple check it was the right part. Lol.

I got the oil pump cover off. After a lot of trouble (Link: https://www.thechicagogarage.com/threads/lukes-blue-turbo-prix.168122/page-3#post-4124650) Had it milled down another .015, for a total of .035 now. What kinda slop am I looking for in this gearrotor ring? How do I test for it?