Changed the oil pump O ring today

[IdahoDoug]

Thanks to many of you who posted all manner of good tips on this. I've had the o ring and crank pulley seal on hand for over a year but was dreading the job because so many had to drill out those pesky oil pump cover screws. Today was the day.

So I thought I had the screws handled with a new 90 degree Lithium Ion impact screw extracter. Uh, nope. Total fail. It didn't get any of them out. I bought two hardened phillips tips to use and they fit so beautifully I had to tap each one gently into the screw. But nothing moved. The phillips heads bear the legend PH3 and I got them at a tool shop. They are very hard.

So Plan B. Laid a board across the engine bay, padding the fenders. Crawled up with a breaker bar and a socket that fit the phillips tips - a 1/4" socket. Then, pressing firmly to keep the Phillips tips from rising out I cranked each one in turn. They all let go with a gentle crack. I then had to fully remove each screw and put it in the bench vice to pull the Phillips tips out, so firmly did they fit, before moving on to the next screw. The long breaker bar contributed by giving me overwhelming force with very little drama and no struggling on my part. Easy to use the other hand to encourage the phillips tip to stay in because of this.

The crankshaft seal was cake. Easy in and easy out. Only hitch was torqueing down the crank bolt. I don't know about others, but using the 14mm socket trick on the flywheel did not work so well. The socket slipped once, then cracked on the second slip. I used a new one, but this time rather than just the socket, I put a ratchet on it, and used a jack to hold the ratchet in place so when applying force it could not simply "lean" out of the way and fall like the previous attempts. So, this worked but was a bit tricky to actually employ.

I used a 3/4 inch torque wrench and had 1/2 inch socket on the crank bolt, using an adapter. That snapped, but was an off brand anyhow. So I used a 3/4 inch 1 and 3/16" socket (all I could find in town on a Sunday evening), which worked a treat and torqued it to about 310.

I did not sand the oil pump cover flat like others have done. Mine had a good surface on it and I feel the cover gets pulled flat by the 7 screws anyhow.

So thanks to all for the tips.

DougM

 

[kidglove13]

Nice Doug

I too had the seals sitting on my self for the longest time before I decided to do the job.

I even replaced a radiator and still did not do the seals

Talk about lazy, I was cursing my self the whole time because I did not do it when I swapped the rad out.

 

[jlg32281]

Nice Doug

I too had the seals sitting on my self for the longest time before I decided to do the job.

I even replaced a radiator and still did not do the seals

Talk about lazy, I was cursing my self the whole time because I did not do it when I swapped the rad out.

I'm in this boat. I've swapped radiators and still haven't done mine even though I have new screws and seal in the tool box.

 

[redeye]

I'll tell you, I'm paranoid about the whole thing. The thought of strapping a breaker bar to the frame and do that "bump start" method scares the crap out of me. And I've gotta do this one TWO 80's.

Doug, you should've put together a video on that job!

 

[scrowley]

Its seems a bit rough but it does work. just make sure you have a good quality 3/4" drive breaker bar. dont even try the 1/2" they just snap instantly. I made sure to ratchet strap the breaker bar to the frame so there was no jump in the bar. Loosened right up. Good luck. Also if the pump cover screws give you a hard time with the radiator still installed a good trick I used was to tack weld a #3 phillips to each screw then discard one by one. Worked flawlesly. attatched pic.

I'll tell you, I'm paranoid about the whole thing. The thought of strapping a breaker bar to the frame and do that "bump start" method scares the **** out of me. And I've gotta do this one TWO 80's.

Doug, you should've put together a video on that job!

 

[Kernal]

Good job.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Good job Doug, nothing an ole 80's vet like yourself can't handle. The infamous 7 screws from HELL..

 

[dace voit]

Nice work Doug! I was fortunate enough to be able to get the screws out with no trouble. I was luckier than some.

To lock the crank, I used an impact socket which was a little longer than a typical 14mm on the torque converter bolt. It worked like a charm. I tried using the chain around the frame technique to no avail. The bolts bent and I didn't want to go get grade 10.9 bolts. A 1/2" breaker bar was enough for me. It was an Ace brand, however good that is...

 

[IdahoDoug]

Dace,

I used a 14mm deep socket which was plenty long to block the flywheel. Just that with pressure on, the socket would progressively "lean" its way off the bolt, then slip. Mine was a Craftsman, though I use the 14mm a lot and perhaps it had some slack.

So, the challenge there is to leave the wrench on the socket to prevent the socket from leaning sideways. I pointed the handle horizontally to the driver's side, then put my factory jack on a block of wood and adjusted it so the handle was supported such that under tension the handle could only press against the back of the block.

This was not a bad job. The only kick in the balls part is something I hate doing that may not bother others. Removing the %#$^ battery tray. Really? Did they have to use 5 bolts to hold it in?? Plus disconnecting the wiring to my fogs, rear roof light, rear fog, JC Whitney dog in the back window with light up eyes, etc. I just hate messing with that thing.

It's not a bad job, really. And here's the really great thing. For a couple years now I've had a little metal pan under the 97 to catch the drips and that embarassed the crap out of me when people noticed it. So I ceremoniously cleaned it up, cleaned the floor with brake cleaner, and stowed the metal pan against the day I buy a British car. Cough....

DougM

 

[blkprj80]

Great work Doug!

I pulled my oil pump last night as part of the tear down process.

I have the luxury of being able to do mine on an engine stand. Not saying that's the best way, but I'm lucky I guess. Unlucky in that the engine is no longer running though.

At first I thought "this should be fairly easy", since it was out of the truck even though I had read all the horror stories on mud.

I degreased all the screw recesses with brake cleaner using a paper towel to back up the red straw. I grabbed a paper towel for the second one after watching the stream of brake fluid come back in four distinct streams due to the phillips head pattern.

I went around and tried them all with my decent #3 craftsman screwdriver. None budged. No creak, no nothin'. I grabbed a phillips #3 drive bit and tapped and tapped with a hammer, trying to break it loose. Tried it but no luck. I heated it with a mapp torch but it was too hard to get just the screw hot and the oily grease started to burn so I stopped. I tried it again and finally the first screw came out after heating! Yay! One down! My excitement was short lived as I hammered and heated the second screw, but when I tried to back it out, it started to cam out.

I grabbed my newly acquired Knipex Plier Wrench (thanks Robbie for telling me about these wonderful pieces of engineering!) and used an Apex (R) bit in an Apex screwdriver style holder and decided to try tightening the one that had cammed out. I heard it creak, and I reversed the pliers and was able to back it out with only a reasonable amount of effort! Was I on to something??? I creaked the next screw in, and it came right out! All the rest of the screws came out easily with this method of tightening till it creaks and then unscrewing.


It may have been possible to brute force them loose, but tightening them first seemed to make a big difference. I swear it worked for me.

If you're trying to remove them and you start to cam out, clean it and try tightening until you hear it crack. Then back it out normally. This might save you having to drill out a screw.

Pics show Knipex pliers on driver, and my screws with the one that almost screwed up my whole evening.

 

[Flagslack]

Shame

I have been working on removing these bolts for two days, and today my failure became complete. After an overnight PB blast, a morning cleaning with brake cleaner, torch heating of the bolts and surroundings, fierce tapping with the perfectly sized phillips head, hard wrenching, and two bucketfuls of patience, I spent more than four hours removing ONLY FIVE BOLTS.

I resorted to drilling the remaining two, and broke off an extraction bit in each one, even with very slow and careful torquing on the end of my drill. I even spent an hour looking for a mechanic who could come out and help me in any way (drilling or tack welding the bolts), to avoid the unthinkable: a tow to the dealership to get these two f*n bolts out!!!! Such. Frustration. My appointment is tomorrow at noon. At least they have the tools to properly torque the crank bolt back on....

Anyway, to anyone who tackles this job in the future: Take your time with those bolts, the horror stories are true. However, if you have a compact 90 degree impact drill, then you'll have no problems at all. Also, the starter bump technique works nicely for loosening the crank bolt if your breaker bar is very secure. I used a half-inch drive bar with a very heavy and snug-fitting 30mm axle nut I rented from Autozone. Lashed tightly to the frame with climbing webbing.

 

[plutonius]

Uggh, I feel your pain, although I got lucky with mine and those 7 bolts came out relatively easily. Have you been going at it with the radiator still in place? If so, have you considered pulling it to give you a clean angle of attack?

 

[timer00]

My crank seal/oil pump oring job was pretty easy once I got into it. I think the main reason its a PITA for alot of people as I am sure others will agree is the miles and age on the engine. I only had like 115k when I did mine and garage kept my LC since Jan 2010 when I got it.

My oil cover screws clicked out nicely with tapping in the PH3 bits and the 1/4" socket deal but again my engine bolts/screws were young yet

 

[Flagslack]

Uggh, I feel your pain, although I got lucky with mine and those 7 bolts came out relatively easily. Have you been going at it with the radiator still in place? If so, have you considered pulling it to give you a clean angle of attack?

Luckily, the radiator was already out. I would probably have had zero bolts out instead of 5 if it wasn't. They all barely came out too - the least damaged one looked like the worst one in blkprj80's photo.... And even with free tows from AAA, the trip to the shop ended up costing me $200 for the bolt extraction, seal replacement, and crank pulley installation That was one expensive seal! I'm still not over it

 

[bsmart82]

Here is the best way I have found to get the screws out. Use a brass hammer to hammer a bit into the screw. I hit the bit repeatedly for a good 15-20 seconds to loosen it up. Then I use a 1/4" ratchet and socket on the bit and they will break loose without much force. If a screw feels like it is not going to break loose, then hit it more. I got all of my screws out with no damage to the heads and I also use this method on 4 cylinder Tacoma oil pump covers at work.

 

[hobbes]

I got the screws out on my 200+ k motor with a dose of patience. Tap, tap tap. Once the first one breaks free you have a good idea of the force required. If the next one didn't break with the same force, I went back to tapping with a hammer. Worked like a charm, but an exercise in patience since it isn't a lot of force. I think I started around 20 or so taps and went up from there, as required. YRMV.

 

[Bastler]

I did my pump seal and phh a couple of months ago.

I made the tool below to hold the crank pulley while I removed and installed the bolt. The steel tube is 3.5"OD, 3/16" wall, and the slots are about 3/4" wide by 1.5" deep. The tube slips inside the crank pulley and engages the bosses in the casting. Worked pretty well.

I got three of the pump cover bolts out with an impact driver, then stripped one, then finished the other three with the hammer-in-the-bit-and-use-a-ratchet technique. I used a ball burr on a die grinder to remove the stripped head, pulled off the cover, and unscrewed the screw with my fingers.

I didn't have access to a 3/4"-drive torque wrench, so i used a breaker bar with a cheater, a floor scale, and trigonometry to torque the bolt.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Heh - that's a great way to hold the pulley. Was it stable with force applied or did you have to secure it somehow while you cranked on the bolt?

DougM

 

[Bastler]

It stayed in place pretty well, actually. The recess in the front of the pulley has a bit of a taper, so the end of the tool "wedged" in place with a light tap from a hammer. The handle braced against the passenger-side frame rail.

I didn't have a big enough torque wrench, so I stood on a scale next to the truck and put my weight on a 5' cheater bar, measured the angle of the cheater and how much weight i "lost" to calculate the torque. It took several trips from the cheater to the calculator to get it right, and the tool didn't loosen noticeably.

 

[bysiklest]

I just recently completed this job as well. I borrowed a friend's 1/2" drive Snap-on breaker bar and wedged the handle in the v shaped area where the steering stabilizer bolts to the frame. I like the fact the V shape help contain the handle. Because of that I didn't feel the need to even tie it in place. Worked great. I did snap a Harbor Freight 1/2" breaker bar on my first attempt. I figured it would, but figured I'd give it a try before asking around for one. I told the guy who loaned it too me about other's stories of snapping 1/2" drive bars, and he said he has had a 4' cheater on it with about a 200lb guy jumping on the end to crack some 425 ft.lb bolts before and it didn't break, so he wasn't worried...

I didn't have any problem removing my oil pump cover screws. I didn't have any rust, but I attribute that to living in south east and the leaky valve cover and distributor o-ring providing a good coating of oil to the entire front of the engine. A #3 phillips bit with some tapping and a 1/4" socket and ratchet worked just fine.

I did not remove the battery tray or the radiator or anything. Just the fan and shroud. Honestly the hardest part was removing the fan and associated pulley. For some reason they seemed to want to bind on the studs and it took some persuasion from my hammer while rotating the pulley to get it off the studs there. I had the same issues getting back on.

I also didn't have access to a torque wrench to properly install the crank bolt. I just used the same 24" long breaker bar, locked the crank in place with the 14mm socket in the bell housing trick and got it as tight as I could. A deep well craftsman socket and a little bit of playing with the rotation of the crank to line it up and it worked like a charm. If I ever find access to that size torque wrench I'll throw it on there and make sure its good.

So far I think i've stopped all my engine oil leaks. Now to tackle the power steering leak and maybe a fuel leak. I'm smelling gas standing outside the vehicle, running or not, but thats another topic...