Another oil leak problem......

MyPamela · Post by **MyPamela** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:59 am

Thought this was the right place to write this but if not please tell me.

I have recently got my car running smoothly it hadnt been run in many years, once i had it running for about 15 minutes it started leaking quite a bit of oil that seems to be coming out of the front of the engine somewhere. Is this a common problem? I am pretty new to this and was thinking that it looks like it is coming out behind one of the pulleys.

The car was not leaking whilst cold only seemed to happen onve the oil heated up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers
Rich

Thommo · Post by **Thommo** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:48 am

Gday Rich
Your problem could be a perished harmonic balancer seal.
If you remove the balancer see if you can tell wether the oil has been
escaping from the seal (which will become obvious when the balancer is removed)
or from the timing gear cover (less likley)

Cheers
Jeff

rosco · Post by **rosco** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:25 am

Hi Rich,
as Thommo says - most likely the balancer seal - it's a neoprene seal and if shot probably won't "come good".
If it is this seal, you'll need to remove the balancer, pry the old one out and fit a replacement. By their location, they tend to get a bit of crud in there.
If it hasn't been run for awhile, the mating surface on the crank shaft can "grow" with exposure and this most likely will "eat" out the seal - in all the greys I had, I was lucky enough not to have to replace one of these nor the rear main seal - with the "red" I have, I have now done two fronts and it looks as if I'm about to do the second rear...............

frats,
Rosco

MyPamela · Post by **MyPamela** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:26 am

Thanks for the quick answers

Do i need a special tool to remove the harmonic balancer?
What is the best way to remove it?
Where is the best place to get a new seal?

I am located in Tyabb which is just near Frankston.

Cheers
Rich

rosco · Post by **rosco** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:52 am

Someone threw up a post on this some time back, Rich - i think they are getting hard to find - I expect you could probably borrow one for the job - it is a pointed bolt within a dual threaded nut - don't be tempted to try and use the three jawed puller type - you'll destroy the balancer.

frats,
Rosco

Thommo · Post by **Thommo** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:10 am

Here's a pic of a harmonic puller for a standard grey.

The outer larger thread screws into the front of the balancer,
the longer bolt is then screwed through the outer, onto the end of the crank,
'drawing' the balancer forward off the crankshaft.

the seal your after has imperial dimensions of
:-2.250 outer diameter
:-1.438 inner diameter
:-0.375 width

These dimensions are on a seal I'm holding in my hand right now that was replaced yesterday.

ie- fits in a 2' 1/4" diameter recess (in your timing cover)
runs a 1' 1/2" shaft (diameter of the rear of the balancer which passes through the seal)
pushes into a 3/8" deep recess (in your timing cover)

The Victorian members will point you in the right direction to find a seal,
And maybe one might have a remover to lend you.

Cheers
Jeff

karsten · Post by **karsten** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:41 pm

yeah rosco ,,, that was me its under,, puller help , in this section ive got one i was kindly lent by troy fb and still have it ,as i was going to get a few made they reckon it will cost around $100 but ive been away over easter and havent got one made yet,,, they say they only fetch $50-$60 bucks on ebey but ive been looking and havent seen one so im gonna go the dear way and make one ,, repco and super cheap dont get them anymore ,, and ive used red moter pullers and they wont do the job on a grey