Front crankshaft oil seal replacement

[Paul]

Got a minor leak from front crankshaft oil seal, is slinging some oil and messing up engine face. L/M dealership quoted me $257 to replace it. Rock Auto sells the seal for $15 - $17 + shipping (PTFE is the more expensive one) or can get from dealer or other FLAP, and I can get inexpensive pulley remover and seal installer from Harbor Freight Tools and/or ebay, so I'm gonna tackle it myself.

Question: when I pull the old seal, will engine oil come gushing out? Should I do this at an oil change so block is drained prior to removal? I'm using Royal Purple, and don't want to waste it.

2nd question: who makes the best quality seal? What is best material? Should I get the PTFE one under the assumption higher price is higher quality?

3rd question: should I replace anything else while I'm there? Doesn't look like there's anything, short of breaking open the block (and I'm not gonna do that).

TIA.

[Blackened300a]

Some people reccomend replacing the crank bolt since its a torque to yield bolt. Also be sure to use a high temp silicone on the keyway when replacing.

[RF Overlord]

According to the FSM, all that's needed is to remove the crankshaft pulley. It does say that 2 special tools are required, one for removal of the seal and one for its installation, but nothing else.

No, oil will not come gushing out and assuming you don't drop any pieces of the old seal inside, you shouldn't need to change the oil after replacement.

[Zack]

It might not be the seal itself Paul.
Pull the bolt and washer out, clean everything real good, then re-silicone around the washer on both sides and reinstall.

[Paul]

It might not be the seal itself Paul.
Pull the bolt and washer out, clean everything real good, then re-silicone around the washer on both sides and reinstall.


While the jury is still out, I think Zack was correct ^^^^. I re-sealed the crankshaft woodruff key with high-temp silicone gasket maker and it looks like the oil leak has stopped. I did not replace the front crankshaft oil seal itself. Here's my story why:

I studied the Ford repair manual CD I have and searched the 'net for additional advice (here, modularfords.com, autozone DIY, etc). Bought a Ford oil seal install tool off of ebay, pulley-remover and -installer kits from Harbor Freight (HF), a new seal from the LM dealer and a new ARP bolt and washer from a performance store. Also got a longer breaker bar and torque wrench, and new 18MM sockets to fit the stock and ARP bolts. Thinking I was armed and ready, I decided to tackle the job while I was off on New Year's day and wife was working (no interruptions with honey-do's).

After removing the radiator fan shroud for access, using the HF pulley-remover and cleaning everything up with degreaser, but before removing the oil seal itself, I discovered the HF pulley installer does not fit the MM, despite claiming to fit 4.6 modular motors. damn :censor:. The used seal-installing specialty tool I bought on ebay requires a pulley installer to draw the seal into place properly. So I decided not to push my luck on the seal, and just concentrate on getting the crank pulley back on and getting the car driveable again while I located the proper tool for the complete job. (I've learned over the years that wives tend not to forget some things, one example being when you had to have the car towed to a shop to fix something you said you could do yourself. :rolleyes: )

I used red high-temp silicone gasket maker to reseal the woodruff key and lightly tapped the pulley back on using a breaker bar to distribute the force of a 3-lb hammer - just enough to get it started to the point where I could use the pulley bolt to draw it on.

Sidebar: A funny thing about life is that experts tend not to explain in detail exactly how to handle the basics which are secondary to a job at hand. For example - keeping the crank from turning when you torque the pulley on. Manuals say to use a "suitable strap wrench" or specialty tool. Or use a breaker bar. or use a friend to hold. I was working alone, with the occasional help of my 3 year old - so I tried the breaker bar and soon realized I didn't quite know how to do that without risking damage to the flywheel or torque converter. I improvised a strap wrench using a tie-down strap from the sway bar to two of the bolts from the pulley remover (temporarily reinstalled to the pulley) to keep the crank from turning while I followed the torque procedure for the pulley bolt.

Success - the car was driveable again and wife doesn't know how close we came to a tow bill. :D

If the leak is truly stopped, I'm done. If not, I'll take the time to locate the proper Ford specialty tool for installing the new seal and replacing the crank pulley the right way.

[JohnE]

I had my front cover crack, just under the tensioner. It was hard to find, as it was just a hairline fracture.

The seal is easy to replace when the front timing cover is off the car with a hammer and some tapping. Always use a new bolt and torque as per Ford manual specs. Failure to do so can result in a broken bolt or crank pulse wheel failure.


John



http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/111648/original/crackcover03-.jpg

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/111647/fullsize/oilleakmess.jpg