well i'm finally gettting around to fixing my nasty oil leak. I assume it is the wp drive shaft seal but i dont want to put it all back together and find out that wasn't it. can yall take a look at these pictures and see what you think. seems like theres oil everywhere, all over waterpump, opti, timing chain cover, crank pos. sensor... thanks guys

i kept the pictures big to make it easier to see

 

anyone?

 

It can be hard to tell because oil can get slung all over. If the intake manifold is not leaking from above, it does look like the w/p seal could be a cause. If it were me, I would think about changing all the seals while it was down this far.

Special care has to be taken when installing the w/p seal. A search should find you some info.

 

just wondering, when people talk about ruining the seal during installation, what happens to the seal? ex. does it tear? stretch out?.....

 

It usually gets torn or ripped by the splines or the front edge of the machined surface behind the splines on the water pump drive.

 

okay thanks, one more question, what about if part of the outer lip got folded in a little as I was putting it on the shaft coupler, do u think that'd hurt it? i redid it and it still fit over the shaft quite snugly. i just want to be 100% sure its good before i put it all back together.

p.s: thanks to those for the shaft coupler installation idea!

 

That's a judgement call. Only you know and can see what happened. For the price of a seal and the effort/time required to get to it, I might try another one.

 

Hi,

I wasn't able to open your photos for examination, but I can share my experience with the seals for the waterpump and the distributor. I was able to diagnose the source of the leak only after removing the waterpump and then the distributor. The distributor seal had a great deal more oil around it, visible in a radial pattern indicating that oil was escaping from the seal. The waterpump seal by comparison did not display this pattern. I concur with Shoebox that if you are forced to strip the front of the motor in search of the leak that you change all the seals, including the crank hub. As for distinguishing between an intake leak and a worn front seal, you should be able to generally isolate the two by cleaning the motor and checking for for visible patterns. The front intake seal is readily observable.

As for installing the front seals, don't worry. Lightly grease or oil the seals and apply even pressure when pushing them over the spilined shafts. I used a socket of matching diameter to guide the seal onto the shaft, which also caused the inner lip to invert before I began sliding it over the splined portion, lessening the chance of tearing.

 

I am not able to open your pics either. But take Rob's advice and make sure it isnt the intake manifold leaking from above before you take off the timing cover. Good luck.
Brandon