I had a head and cam work done and after my engine leaked oil in three differnt spots on my floor. I brought it back to the shop and they said the crank seal needed to be replaced beacause it was worn and was craking at places. My car has less than 7000 miles on it so I know it was not old. Now my engine is still leaking oil and it is gathering on the front cradle drivers side. It is less than it was before but I am getting very frustrated. I don't know if they have the special tool for aligning the timing cover. I am ready to just do it myself with my friend who is a c3 mechanic. He does not have the tool required to align it so where would we get it and how much does it cost. I heard it was around $400. Also do we need the crank pulley tool? Thanks.

 

Kent-Moore has the special tools. You don't really need the crank pulley holding tool, but it'd make the job easier. You can make your own if you have the facilities. There are drawings out there on how to make it.

 

Kent-Moore has the specialty tools you are asking about. I believe they are a division of SPX. The shop should have replaced the front cover crank seal AND the timing cover gasket when they removed the cover. GM states in the service manual that those parts are not reuseable. The shop proved that. GM also states that you have to run a double-bead of RTV type sealant at the front corners of the oil pan where the timing cover gasket and oil pan meet. Otherwise the cover will leak there also. The timing cover alignment tool is about $85 from Kent-Moore. I purchased the timing cover crank seal installer tool and used that to press the seal into the cover and worked the cover before it got tight to make sure it was centered on the crank. Then I cranked it down and finished pressing the seal into the cover. Then while it was still tight against the cover I installed and tightened the timing cover bolts. When I removed the install tool the cover was on and centered perfectly. With the sealant at the oil pan covers and a new crank seal I didn't leak any oil.
If you have a stock crank pulley you can pull it off with a large 8" or more 3 arm puller. Kent-Moore also makes a puller but it is expensive and you can borrow a large puller from AutoZone. What I suggest is to go here LS1 Howto and look up the heads/cam on a C5 article. There is a section that deals with removal and install of the timing cover and pulley. Also, if you have a stock pulley you may want to replace it at that time with an ASP underdrive pulley. A few more hp and a little better gas mileage. I would suggest not to reuse the pulley after it is pulled off. There have been many that have done so and the pulley having been stretched from it's original install walked off the crank snout and caused a bunch of damage.

 

Oh man, sorry to hear about that. But the shop that did the work is totally responsible for that. You should have gotten all new gaskets when they were putting it back together after the heads/cam work. You could have even re-used the old timing cover and front seal gaskets and it probably wouldnt have leaked. They did some crappy work.

The front seal rides on the backside of the balancer. Before you install the balancer, put some lube on the back of the balancer and it will slide into the front seal in the timing cover with no problem. You dont need an alignment tool. Just put new gaskets on the timing cover on and then press the balancer back on with the old crank bolt. You will need a 3-arm puller to get the balancer off.

 

Thanks guys. I just talke dto the shop and they are going to send someone to my house to diagnose it.
What is involved with the redo of the timing cover procedure for just fixing the leaks on this. I know I have to take down the cradle but do I have to remove anything other than the pulley and balancer? Is the radiator in the way?

 

Drain radiator
Remove radiator (needed access for balancer puller)
Remove steering rack
Remove serpentine belt
Remove balancer
Remove timing cover
Replace timing cover gasket and front seal
Install timing cover
Install balancer using old crank bolt
Remove old crank bolt
Install new crank bolt
Install steering rack
Drive and enjoy vette
Tell moron mechanic who initially did the job to get lost and find another job

You may want to check the valve covers and make sure they arent leaking as well since they are coming out to "diagnose". Dont let them BS you. They screwed it up. They should fix it and make it right. PERIOD.

 

You don't need to take down the cradle. You will need to remove the steering rack. Here's some info from LS1Howto.com courtesy of jimx: http://ls1howto.com/index.php?article=1

Although this covers an entire heads/cam swap, you can just ignore everything except the part about removing and replacing the timing cover and balancer

 

I remember seeing in the new LS1/6 book where they showed how to change a cam and heads. A little RTV was added in the corners where the pan and timing cover meet. The timing cover was not tightened until after the damper was installed, this allowed the cover to be centered to the damper.

 

When I drain the radiator I also have transmission lines going to the A4. What do I do with these lines? Ls1 how to does not mention them. Do I just let them drain and just add fluid to the transmission? I also have the B&M trans cooler installed how does that effect those lines?

 

I found the BEST three-jaw puller finally

Crank Holding Tool II

 

The timing chain gasket looks very similar on both sides. The driver side should have a have circle sticking out about half way down. Make sure the gasket is not on backwards.

 

You must add a dab of RTV in the corner.

You can disconnect your tranny lines from the radiator without loosing much fluid, I wouldn't worry about adding any afterwards as it's a major task.

If your front seal was infact damaged when you took it back then they also need to make sure the balancer is ok, when the seal goes bad it can cut a groove in the balancer (ask me how I know )