Crank seal itself was pretty easy to do..

Here's the how-to with plenty of pictures...
https://home.comcast.net/~nstama/crankseal.htm


But here's the problem.. oil oozing out both lower plugwires connecting to the opti. Now my leak sprayed oil everywhere under there but i didn't think it would get into the wires. i wasn't about to take the opti out, but i think if i did and took it apart i would find thats it's full of oil, like this guy...
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=542931



Car runs great so im stumped. Time for an opti replacement??

 

I replaced the front crank seal about 2 months ago thinking it was slinging oil everywhere. not so. it appears to be something behind the opti. someone else may have first hand knowledge to help "us"

 

I think it came from the crank seal - doubt its even possible for oil to ever get in the cap and run thru to the towers.. Spray it all out with WD-40 or something, put some dialectric grease on them and shove them back in there.

 

i second this motion

 

Power transformers are filled with oil so I don't think that oil in your opti would short anything out. Alhough I would think that if your opti were full of oil, the "optical" part of the "opti" wouldn't see very well...Just thinking...

 

I would address the oil leaking first. There are three holes/seals on the timing cover. Oil can also come through the bolts that hold the opti. From the pics it looks like a lot of oil is leaking from somewhere. Probably multiple sources.

 

Your water pump shaft seal is leaking.

If it were me, I would have replaced all the timing cover seals while the hub was off.

 

I hate oil leaks.

 

LOL!! It's even worse on boosted setups. I'm beginning to think the LT1 is akin to a block of swiss. :/

 

Well should i wait till i swap the opti to change all the seals.
i mean if im gonna have to take the WP off anyways, might as well change the opti to right?

If I am gonna change all my front seals what all do i need in terms of gaskets and seals?

Crankshaft seal - already replaced
optispark o-ring
water pump shaft seal + water pump gaskets (2)
timing cover gasket.

 

You can do it without taking off the timing cover, so you don't necessarily need a timing cover gasket. If you've already replaced the crank seal, and you know it's not leaking, you just need the water pump & opti seals, plus the water pump gaskets.

If I left off anything, someone will chime in.

 

The oil in the picture appears to have a red tinge to it. It is possibly trans fluid or power steering fluid?