I changed the water pump and I've got an oil leak. I know there is a seal on the engine for the cam. I'm not leaking coolant, just oil. Since there is no coolant, it isn't a water pump seal... right? Is it a cam seal? Located at the opposite end of the water pump shaft... help. Any pics or advice? Which one is it?

 

Possibly a seal on the timing cover is leaking. Before I pulled out my engine, I was leaking oil out the water pump shaft. The seal was crap and the shaft was ate up. This seal is particularly tricky for me to work with. Possibly could be your problem.

 

So, is it called a Water Pump Shaft Timing Cover Seal? What is the P/N?

 

Seals listed in this post:
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...threadid=77150

 

Thanks. It's a bit confusing to hear Water Pump Seal when it doesn't seal the coolant nor is it on the Water Pump. Thanks for the help Shoebox and ChvyCruzen.

 

I just took off the waterpump to change the seal. IT WONT GO ON unless you take of the Opti! Is this true?!!! I have to take off the Opti to get to the water pump seal?!!

So, if I take off the Opti, will I destroy the Opti seal? If so, it will take me another week to get the seal since it isn't in stock anywhere. Jason Cromer takes 5 shipping days...

Is there a way to change the water pump seal without removing the Opti?

 

I don't remember the opti sitting so high that you could not get to the seal. Obviously the shaft has to clear it.

 

Technically called the water pump driveshaft seal. thats why ur confused.

The opti comes VERY close to the edge of the seal. i cannot remember if it actually sits over it. No big deal, opti is 3 bolts. shouldnt mess the seal up.

 

Regarding your waterpump shaft seal, make sure it is installed with the inner seal face facing into the engine (if that makes sense). Mine twice (by mechanics) were installed with the inner lip inverted so the oil had a nice easy place to escape.

I had to work on the little bugger to get it to install correctly. Just expand the seal face a bit and it will go on.

 

Update.

I was under the car until 11 PM last night. After cleaning up, the drop light went out... better at the end than the middle.

About the seal, the Opti is too high. It blocks about 1/8" of the seal and it cannot slide on or out with the Opt in place. I had to make a late night run to Autozone to rent a puller. One of the guys in the club recommend hammering on the balancer. It tried taping the inside with a sledge and a Craftsman Combo Wrench... no luck. I was afraid I would be damaging the front seal or bear with the angle I was striking the backside of the balance... The pull was a bit of a bear since it was too small and there wasn't a center punch for the pulley screw to fit in. I grabbed a 1/4" Craftsman socket (I keep saying Craftsman because I can return the tool if I mess it up) and centered the puller on the backside of the socket and kept the socket as centered as possible.

Using a 9/16" I was able to eventually get it out. The balancer was off and I was able to remove the Opti. I noticed some debris on the Opti so I wiped it clean with a towel and applied a dab of Ford "Type F" ATF (Fords tend to leak to this will help soften the seal).

The next trick was to center the socket with the Opti slid to the side. I messed up the first seal but fortunately ordered two from Jason Cromer. I slid the seal on the 12mm 1/2 Socket and it worked fine. Just tapping it in with the socket and the limited space is how I destroyed the first seal.

Put the Opti back on, purged the cooling system, worked fine on the first start up. I'm not impressed with the GM engineers putting the water pump and oil seal on top of the electronics/Opti. Plus, that was a chicken thing to do to put the seal 1/8" behind the lip of the Opti. I don't want to do that again...!

Thanks for your help guys. Next time I'll pull the engine.