Aqua's crank seal seems wrong one...

[Safety Guy]

I finally took advantage of a nice day and removed my cam and crank pulley stuff to examine both seals for leaks.

Upon first examination, nothing seemed obvious. However, I then took my penknife and inserted it into the joint at the crank nose and the seal inner rub area. It easily went in, but when I tried the same trick to my cam seal, it wouldn't insert at all.

I then grabbed a ruler and measured the difference. The knife blade (very slim--a Spyderco Ladybug) went in a measured 5mm before encountering any resistance. Again I tried the cam seal and I had to push a bit to get the tip in at all.

It seems to me that I have the wrong crank seal. Replacing it should do the trick to get rid of my massive oil leak. (The oil seemed to all come out within about a half-hour of driving.)

Any other ideas are welcome. I basically want confirmation that a thin blade should NOT easily slide into that gap any measurable amount.

Thanks,

Karl

[Festy46]

Oil seals usually have a small coil spring incorporated into and around the inside of the seal. Perhaps that spring broke and now you don't have as much tension on the seal. The seal should be touching the crank tight enough to give some resistance.

[FestYboy]

and the cam and crank seals are the same part, so if you installed two different part numbers, there's your problem.

[FB71]

actually, Arty, I have encountered some engines with a different size crank and cam seal. A very few had a slightly larger crank snout. I think its the '93s.

[bhazard]

Yes there are two crank seals. Ones for small nose and ones for big nose. You likely have a big nose self on a small nose crank. I believe all 93s have a big nose crank.

[takeone51]

i had the same oil leak issue but my crank seal was just old...

[FestYboy]

Jim, you're right, but i was going on what Karl's sig had listed and didn't see Aqua as a 93 so figured it for a 91 small nose.

[89newb]

i have a massive oil leak as well coming from the timing cover. I believe it is my crank seal but please let me know how you solve this. it would definitly help in my brainstorming

[FestYboy]

best bet is your crank seal as that's where your oil pump is and that seal is under pressure where the cam seal is not under pressure directly (there's a light pressure buildup in the top of the head but it's well under 1 psi and somtimes it's under a vaccum)

[Safety Guy]

Although Aqua is a '91, I did a B6 swap. Both my B6s are '94s, so both should be large nosed. I do recall having a problem with my first engine swap in Luxstiva dealing with getting the right crank seal. I will be removing this one and putting in a part I got from a different source. Plus, I'll check it with my pen knife right after install to make sure it fits like the cam seal. If not, I'll get yet another seal to try out before putting everything back together.

89newb, as far as how I'm handling it, I put a jack under the oil pan and took out the right side engine mount bolts so I could lower the engine till I could get a socket on the crank bolt. After removing the bolt I could take out the four little bolts and remove the crank pulley and the rest of the parts covering my seal area.

I also removed the alternator since it was limiting engine travel downwards. I'll need the extra room when I pull the crank seal and get ready to install the new one.

I've marked the positions of the crank and cam pulleys, the timing belt, etc. to make sure I put them back together without changing my timing.

The engine did seem to run pretty well as I drove it to get my exhaust put on a few weeks ago when I had Aqua on the road.

It's supposed to rain for the next few days so this may take another week or so. In the meantime I'll be solving my front strut issues. I may just cut the coils one more time to see if that lowers the front end with the Rio struts.

Thanks for all the discussion, guys!! I appreciate it.

Karl

PS: I just updated my car list in my sig line.

[FFW]

I am in the same process changing my crankshaft seal though how do you take this booger out?! I tried with a flat screwdriver or even a hook screwdriver thingy. It looks pretty stuck in there and im already like chipping out of it.

[JoDan]

If you really careful, I sometime use a metal screw to get crank seals out when I can't get it with a soft pick

[FFW]

With the right tools it does make the job easier

[Festy46]

If you have/use the tool pictured above, don't use a lot of force on the handle or you can snap the tip off the tool - voice of experience.

[FFW]

Holy crappy! Well lucky it came off easy when I used it took me like maybe 3 mins