crankshaft oil seal question

I have a 2.7 liter Tacoma. I am going to replace my crankshaft oil seal since I already have my harmonic balancer off. When I put in this new seal , what part of the seal am I supposed to put grease or oil on ? The inside of the seal or outside or what ? And should it be grease or oil ?

 

Grease on the inner part of the seal where the harmonic balancer surface rotates on the seal. You just need a little motor oil on the outer seal to help it slide in easy without damaging it as you tap it in.

 

So grease on the flat part that is exposed that the harmonic balancer touches or inside the inner hole where the shaft goes though it ? And oil around the edges to help it push into the area ? Sorry , I am just trying to be extra carefull

 

The harmonic balancer only touches the inner circle part. The cylindrical part of the harmonic balancer that's rotating. That's where the grease goes. The flat part of the seal facing the front (the surface you press/tap to push it in) doesn't touch the harmonic balancer. It's just very close. That part doesn't need grease. The grease just provides the initial lubrication. After the engine has been running a bit that surface gets lubricated by oil but prevents the oil from seaping out. You can see small raised lines on the inner part, and those direct the oil inward as the crankshaft rotates.

 

Awesome information buddy ! Thanks so much !!!!

 

And make sure you're only contacting the hard, outer part of the seal when driving it in. You don't want to damage the soft, inner 2-3 mm of the seal.

 

What is the easiest way to remove the seal in the first place? I received that seal and the two camshaft seals with my timing belt kit but when I looked closely I was afraid I would get them partially out and then have to hire somebody to come to the house and remove them completely. (I worry about things like that...)

 

Edit: the OP has a 2.7. I didn't realize skeezix wasn't the OP. For the 3.4 the kit would have cam seals. And I'm not sure if the harmonic balancer is different. You don't want to scratch the crankshaft while removing the seal otherwise the scratches will destroy the seal as the crankshaft spins.

The camshafts don't have/need seals on the 2.7 because it has a timing chain that is oiled, so I hope you got the right part. Make sure the crank seal is the same size as the old one before removing it.

To remove the seal you can put a small hook shaped tool behind it and pull it out. In other engines I would say to be careful not to scrape the crankshaft but that's no concern here because the sliding surface that contacts the seal is on the harmonic balancer.

It's one of those things where you progressively get more aggressive trying to pull it out until it comes loose. If you can get a metal tool hook ahaped tool behind it you should be able to leverage it out.

I'm sure you can find some videos showing how to get it out.

 

That was exactly my concern. Didn't know what to leverage against and afraid of scratching the ends of the crankshaft and camshafts on my V6. Anyways, the seals weren't leaking, and I now have a new set waiting until they do leak. At that time (if I'm still around) I'll research their removal again. Thanks for your reply!