front main seal

[Craig]

Hello again. I have an 89' sho I got in 90' with 10K on it. Its a daily driver. I have a wet wheel boot on the passenger side. Doesn't look like grease. Looks more like oil. Also I'm getting smoke from time to time like something is dropping on something hot and burning off. And my oil use has gone up.

This reminds me of having to replace the front main seal in the distant past. I'm not a mechanic and did not do the work. The guy that did, when I asked him if it was difficult, said it was the easiest seal to replace on the car. He said he did it standing up by removing the battery first. The wet wheel boot, smoking, more oil use, and oil blowing back underneath were the symptoms then.

Can anybody comment on this. I did read the conversations that came up in searches on replacing the front main seal, but did not see anything on the 89'.

Thanks again.
Craig in Kentucky

 

[zoomlater]

Did you have the front 60K service done back then? The link below is the how to do a front 60K, the front main seal replacement, step 24 is at the end of page 2. There's a lot of steps before you get to this seal.

SHO Phoenix Project (yamahasho.com)

 

[Craig]

Yes, I had the 60K service done. The car has about 156K on it now. I've tried to maintain it. Over the last 2 years, quite a lot has been done including a new crank gear and seal, cam seal, valve stem seals, spark well gaskets, valve cover gaskets, and sensors needing replacement were replaced. The mechanic said the job went well, that the engine was clean, and came apart easy, and went back together the same way. The car is running well and the the oil use had declined.

And then the smoking and sudden oil use increase started with what looks like oil on the wheel boot. The 24th step picture did not come through. Do you all think the front main seal is a good candidate and how hard is it to change???

I did go through the entire document above, but not being a mechanic and missing the 24th step picture, I wasn't clear on what had to be done to do this seal only if it is the problem.

The guy that did the front main seal before is the lead mechanic on the local army base I've heard and had a good reputation, but I can't evaluate what he said about it being easy to do. I'm not going to do it. I'm just trying to understand.

Its hard for me to separate what needs to be done to change the front main seal only from the 60K process which is way beyond me. I did software for a living.

 

[zoomlater]

So when you mention a new crank gear and seal, was that part of another front 60K that was done? If so, that would have a new front main seal. Do you have the records stating what parts and work was done. Did the crank gear fail due to the woodruff key (crank key) failing? See description below.

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It would be best to look under the car to see where the fluid is coming from. If it was recently changed, it could be from somewhere else. Here is a picture of the area, you can see the woodruff key.

 

[Craig]

The car was leaking. I think they did maybe a dye test to see were the leak was coming from. The crank seal was pinched (my characterization). The mechanic showed it to me. That was a lone event I got fixed.

In another event, the crank gear was disintegrating. The mechanic who did all the seals and gaskets found it and found a new gear out on the web. He showed it to me and said he was amazed it ran at all. Got some strange behaviors out of this problem.

These happened in the last 2 years. About 12 years ago, I had to have the front main seal done as I describe above again as a lone event. I have not had another 60K, just the work I described above, and other stuff like exhaust, starter, etc.

I lost quite a few records about several things in a flood. The 60K was done in the 90s' and the dealer who did the work has changed hands several times I believe.

 

[zoomlater]

If the crank gear was done by itself, I would think your mechanic would have said something if the front seal was leaking.

As these cars get older, they can burn oil in addition to oil leaks. My previous 92 would burn a quart of oil every 1000 miles, and it had just over 100K at the time. The front 60K guide shows you the steps to get to the front crank seal. If you are only doing that seal, you would skip the other steps like replacing the cam seals and water pump.

 

[Craig]

None of the pictures in the Phoenix document after 16 came through. Going to a mechanic Monday. Thread from 2009 by Benjamin said you can change the front main seal for 6 bucks and a couple bloody knuckles.

 

[luigisho]

Well you have to pull the harmonic balancer and timing belt so there is a little more to it. But essentially the seal is not an expensive item. Not sure what the labor looks like as far as cost. Get a good brand seal and some people smear rtv around the outer edge to help prevent leaks. Is it needed? Not sure, but maybe.

 

[zoomlater]

I found the latest updated version that has all the pictures, thanks go to NoSlo for getting a new site for it

Long Winded Step By Step dash removal and heater core (56k = take a long bath) | Page 2 | SHO Forum

SHO Phoenix Project (yamahasho.com)

 

[BaySHO Performance]

It's unusual for a leaking front crank seal to make the 'wheel boot' (AKA CV Joint boot?) wet as it is forward of the boot. More likely to be the exhaust cam seal (run your finger along the bottom of the camshaft sensor to see if it's wet). No mention of a power steering fluid loss which would be another suspect.

 

[NoSlo]

About time we hear how this turned out...

Front oil will blow all over when you're going 70mph. Also a good number of leaky oil pressure sensors reported here.

I just did front 60k, overdue seals make both smoke burning on the cats and everything oily including CV boots and soften mounts and suspension bushing rubber. The front main seal, nine years old and lower than average yearly mileage was hard as a rock and instead of flexing like rubber, crumbled under your fingers. There's a reason why it's called 60k. Timing belts and cam seals that were on RockAuto clearance make it $40 (and maybe $1000 if it was Ford dealer labor). $40 water pump front if unknown mileage.

Front seal is cake compared to cam seals, just drill two little holes in it, screw in non-tapping non-pointy long screws about 1/4" max, and pry out with hammers against the crank front (like nails). Vacuum shavings.

A torch on the timing cog can help it come off, with a harmonic balancer "peace sign" puller and M6 x 80mm bolts and washers. Bake cog, balancer, and steering pump pulley in a 200 degree oven and they'll slip right on when warm. Quickly impact wrench the crank bolt on, and repeat when cool.

That woodruff key crank cancer is from "the mechanic that did it" not tightening the crank bolt to true 130lb-ft over fully installed pulleys - more than lug nuts.