Trying to get this water pump seal and from all the other posts I've read, it sounds like it would pop out. Mine is tearing and ripping off tiny little pieces of rubber as I can grip them. I dont want to dig too hard with anything as I dont want to mess up the metal behind it... my new seal is metallic with a rubber inner lip. Does the old rubber seal also have metal underneath the rubber that I can try and pop out?

This pic from an impala forum shows it being much deeper than I would have thought...
http://hometown.aol.com/sbca96/image...ti-seals05.jpg

But in this pic comparing the old seal to the new seal (from another member, not my actual pic) http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2...oid/wpseal.jpg
it looks like the old rubber seal is only made of rubber.. and therefore no way for me to pop it out aside from ripping it up.

Any other ideas? I have been using a screwdriver and a chisel in the little tab, also tried a fishing hook and thumbtack to grab onto it and pull it out. Tried using a screw to in the tab also to see if I could get the point in farther than my screwdriver would go... no help, just more tearing.

I'm afraid if I rip it up and just keep digging at it that I'll scrape up the metal around it, and even if I can magically install the new seal properly I will still have an oil leak.

 

That first pic is a picture with the seal removed. That is a picture of the lip in the timing cover, it kind of makes it look like a seal though.

 

If you dig in the tab area and pry back, you are not going to hurt anything. Just don't slip down and gouge the water pump shaft. You may have to tear it all to heck to get it out. It is a small seall and there is not much leverage you can exert on it. Use the right procedure to install it and you won't have a leak.