crankshaft seal replacement

[crxshark]

i just bought a 1991 Festiva and it's spitting oil our around the crank pulley. the guy i bought it from told me i would have to replace the crankshaft seal, but i didn't realize there was more than one....

has anyone replaced the front crankshaft seal? or the rear? is the rear more complicated and harder to reach? the previous owner said it was just a matter of removing the pulley, pulling out the rod and replacing the seal (he hadn't done it because he had a broken arm). does that sound like the front seal?


I cannot go pickup a repair manual until Saturday, but i would really like to be able to start looking and learning about the engine. once i get familiar with it, i will be doing a lot to get it running like a top. this car is tons of fun!!!


a pic for those who like pictures: http://student.fgcu.edu/cjsharke/bye.jpg

[ajb999]

sorry i can't help but nice find. looks likes the body is straight. wish mine was.

[nonamekid]

The seal is fairly easy to replace. Finding the part can be tricky though because most parts stroes won't list one or thier listing will look funny to them because the seal is the same size as the camshaft seal if the motor is from the years '88 to '92. In '93 they changed size.

[freshtiva]

Nice ride, welcome aboard. There is a bunch of festiva info here, keep us updated. I have a manual if you need specifics I can email you a pic of what you need.

[wrestler3025]

I just replaced both the front and the rear seal. You shouldn't have too much trouble. I picked up a pick and hook set from Harbor Freight, and used that to get the old seal out. I didn't want to take the chance of damaging the aluminum housing around the seal. It worked like a charm:-) I coated both the inside and the outside portions of the seal, and used one of my sockets to tap it in evenly. Good luck with the repair!!

[Dave G]

I did the front seal on mine a few weeks ago. Although I had help (thanks Karl!) it's a one-man job. Nothing particularly difficult - just follow the instructions in the haynes manual. You have to remove the one engine mount and drop the engine down in order to access the seal. I had to make a little puller to get the sprocket off the crank, but other than that all went according to the instructions :-).

[miami man]

crank seal

for educational purposes how does someone know if it is the the crank seal and not camshaft seal that is leaking? could the camshaft seal leak and drip down to make it look like the crank seal is leaking. has anyone had trouble getting those small Phillips screws out of the crank pulley?

[mattswabb]

Re: crank seal

has anyone had trouble getting those small Phillips screws out of the crank pulley?

Yes, use vise grips once you f up the screws. I've even had to cut one off once with a small grinding wheel.

[wrestler3025]

I did for a second, and when I realized that they weren't going to come out willingly, I sprayed some PB on them waited for 20 minutes, sprayed another shot on them, waited 10minutes, and then went at it again. The second attempt they came right out. The PB worked like a charm.

[crxshark]

thanks for all the replies! I'm going to dive in there this weekend and see what i can find out about the car.


the body is fairly straight...there's a softball sized rust hole at the bottom of the drivers side door/rear quarter. The interior is in rough shape, but I'm just going to have fun with the car and see how nice i can make it with no money. Going to learn how to ghetto upholster the seats, spray the whole interior one color and all the plastic also (the carpet isn't staying).