Front Crankshaft Oil Seal

Just wanted to start off with that picture, this is what a crankshaft oil seal that has been leaking for a while, looks like. Because of my skid plate I never really noticed it until I saw a couple of drips coming out the back of it. Once I pulled my skid off I wiped the front down all nice and shiny and drove it for a while, then let it sit to find the culprit. Turned out to be the oilseal around the crankshaft leaking ever so slighly.

I used this thread http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/97482-crank-pulley-bolt-removal-easy-way.html, for some useful info, not that I used any of the methods in that thread to remove the bolt, but it still was useful info. The oil seal at the local Toyota dealer was $25 bucks, the job is about a 2 hour job by yourself, just have to be patient. I apologize for the lack of pics, doing this alone was a handful enough.

Step 1.) Disconnect negative battery wire

Step 2.) If you have an aftermarker bumper then the job is a little easier but otherwise you'll need to move your fan shroud up and out of the way. I was able to get away with not moving it. If you have a skid plate you'll need to remove that as well.

Step 3.) Using whatever method you prefer you'll need to get the bolt off of the crankshaft pulley. It's a 22mm and on there tight as hell.

Step 4.) I had to get a small 3-jaw puller rented from the local parts store to get the pulley off the shaft, its on there just tight enough that I couldn't wriggle it off by hand.

Step 5.) If your high class and have the proper SST to get the oil seal out, then this is easy for you. I don't though, so I made one. I just got a a big flathead screw driver, heated the head and bent it into a 90 angle. Once cooled down I wrapped it with electric tape so as to not damage the shaft and stuck it in the gap between the seal and the shaft, hooked the seal and just had to give it a slight tug and out it came.

Step 6.) What I did with the new seal in the interim was place it in the freezer to help it shrink up just a bit, once I got to where I needed it I pulled it out, put a bit of MP grease on it, got a short round pipe that touched the seal evenly and fit around the shaft, gave it a couple of good taps and vuala, new seal in place.

Step 7.) Put everything back together, luckily the pulley is keyed to the shaft so you pretty much can't go wrong with putting it back on. Tighten the pulley nut down to factory specs, some say 204 flbs, I did mine to 120 like it said in my maintenance book.

After that just drive it and let it sit a couple of times or until you feel comfortable that its fixed.

Hope this helps anybody who has to do this, i couldn't find a write up so I figured I'd make a quick one. PM if you have any questions. Also I'm not reliable if you screw your own vehicle up, this needs to be done as a delicate process so take your time and breathe.

 

Thx, How did you tight your nut after you put the crank shift back?

 

This saved me. Thanks for the write up.