crank shaft oil seal easy or not

[trikepete]

ok guys got oil running down the engine looks like the seal behind the bottom pulley so how easy it it to change engine in or out
big hammer or little hammer
its a 2.1 dj engine

[Aidan]

never done one insitu, it's easy on an engine stand, it's probably possible in the vehicle but a t; possibly lower rear of engine and take back box and heat sheild off ?
If power steering then just getting the pulley off is a big fo pita

[The_blue]

Did my CU engine in kind of situ.

Drove back up ramps them lowered the engine on the jack but undoing the engine mounts and various pipes and cables.

[CovKid]

Yep, lowering the engine makes it at least accessible.

[trikepete]

cheers guys will give it a go over the weekend
is it a matter of removing the pulley and use a screwdriver to prise the seal out tap in the new one gentle like
cant find fhe find me haynes book of lies at the mo to check

[CovKid]

All VW oil seals are much easier to remove (ie 3 minutes instead of hours and hours) with a £6 oil seal remover from Machine Mart or a good auto spares shop.

[trikepete]

cheers buddy oil seal on order from baxters and oil seal removal tool from ebay
dont yer just love the internet why do i ever leave home

[CovKid]

The removal tool is a dust gatherer to be honest, but boy when its needed does it save a lot of time. Chickenkoop and I will vouck for that on the geatbox input seal - took seconds to get that out.

[trikepete]

no such thing as too many tools

[tencentlife]

It is very rare for the pulley seal to leak so you ought to take a closer look to be sure, it could be the oil pump or some other things. Spray down the area with some Brakleen, or take it to a pressure wash bay and get the area clean (you'll be glad you did this no matter what it is you actually need to fix). Once clean and dry, start the engine and let it warm up idling while you look around and underneath to see where the leak first emerges. Have a small mirror and flashlight in hand so you can look into hard-to-see areas, you need to catch it in the act. This is time well spent, so many people go with their first assumption and waste their time fixing the wrong thing.

[CovKid]

Too much end float can cause leaks though. Worth checking to see if the pulley can be moved in or out. Even on bugs it was sometimes a good sign of a high mileage engine and work needed doing.

[trikepete]

so many people go with their first assumption and waste their time fixing the wrong thing.tencentlife

cheers for that i will take your advice and confirm that the leak is what i think it is so mirror and light at the ready

[tencentlife]

I'm glad that you can see the good sense in what I'm saying; it is what makes the difference between an effective technician and a certified hack.

So many people act on their first impulse, believing they know it all, or even worse, act on the advice of someone who isn't even there to look at the problem, and waste hours barking up the wrong tree. Often in the process they destroy the evidence they should have paid attention to to get the right diagnosis in the first place. Even if your first impulse is confirmed, you're never wasting time making sure.

My flashlight (torch, I guess you all call it), wand mirror and bent scribe are easily my most-used tools.

[syncrosimon]

My crank seal was leaking as the pulley bolt was loose. You could actually see the pulley wobbling very slightly, had the engine out to tighten though. (for other reasons)

Just tightening it up has cured the problem.

[tencentlife]

I guess you all see the single-groove pulley on wbx's, we just don't see those over here because most all US vans had PS or AC or both. I've never seen a single-groove wbx. Those pulleys are only torqued to something like 40ft.lb. The triple-groove is torque to about 240 ft.lb. so no chance of that coming loose.