Front Crankshaft Seal Replacement
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From: Lone Oak Texas
Front Crankshaft Seal Replacement
I have an oil leak that looks like the front crankshaft seal on my 2000 Convertible.
How hard is the seal to replace? The shop manual talks about several special tools - are they all needed - or any ideas on improvising?
How hard is the seal to replace? The shop manual talks about several special tools - are they all needed - or any ideas on improvising?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
If you are talking about the one in the timing cover, you will need to take out the steering rack and get a new bolt for the balancer. Not sure how many miles on the car, but if you remove the balancer you may want to consider replacing since it will be off. The seal will come out once the balancer is off the car. The new one (the original has been superceded) presses in by hand. Check out the cam change procedure on LS1howto.com so you can see the balancer removal.
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From: Lone Oak Texas
Thanks for the response Vettenut. It is the seal in the front cover. The car has just over 50K miles. Read the Cam change description of ls1howto.com that is helpful, but not sure what is/is not required for just the seal.
Just wondering why would I replace the balancer? Is there something that wears out on it, or an upgrade?
Just wondering why would I replace the balancer? Is there something that wears out on it, or an upgrade?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Slave to the evil empire
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St. Jude Donor '04
Be prepared to replace the balancer, my front seal had rolled and started to leak then because the seal had rolled it cut a groove into my balancer so I had to replace the seal, balncer and of course a new bolt.
The manual has you using a couple of centering tools when the front cover is put back on but all you have to do is loosely install the cover then install the balancer and it will center the front cover, once the balancer is in place tighten all of the front cover bolts and your good to go.
The manual has you using a couple of centering tools when the front cover is put back on but all you have to do is loosely install the cover then install the balancer and it will center the front cover, once the balancer is in place tighten all of the front cover bolts and your good to go.
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From: Lone Oak Texas
I looked over the manual, although briefly, and it didn't appear that you had to remove the front cover to replace the seal. However they talk about a special tool to pull the seal, and that is one of my questions. Is the idea to remove the front cover and then you don't need the tool to pull the seal?
Thanks for the tip on the new balancer, hadn't thought about it being damaged.
Thanks for the tip on the new balancer, hadn't thought about it being damaged.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Hayward California
Originally Posted by FFR-Z06
Be prepared to replace the balancer, my front seal had rolled and started to leak then because the seal had rolled it cut a groove into my balancer so I had to replace the seal, balncer and of course a new bolt.
I guess you could just pull it out w/o taking the cam cover off, but it'll take an additional two minutes to remove and then you can replace it w/o having to be underneath the car.
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
The old one will come out if you are careful without removal of the cover. The new one presses in by hand, just clean the mating surface of the cover real good.
Also, my reason for recommending a new one were two fold. First, it may be the cause of the leak and second if you look around in the tech forum on any given day, you will see posts about wobbling balancers. So while in there, kill two birds with one stone I guess
Also, my reason for recommending a new one were two fold. First, it may be the cause of the leak and second if you look around in the tech forum on any given day, you will see posts about wobbling balancers. So while in there, kill two birds with one stone I guess
