I just got the new to me cruiser home (230K on the engine and most parts original) and I getting ready to start working on the car. I am new to working on vehicles but I am eager to learn. Two of my first projects that I am going to tackle are a valve cover gasket and a crank seal as both seem to be leaking.
A few questions before I dive in are:
1) How can I be sure it is a crank seal that is bad or could it be the oil pan gasket? Is there anything that gives an indication of one over the other? It leaks about a 6" puddle once fired up or driven around. Here's a picture of the area leak. I am planning on scrubbing down the entire area to get a better look in the next day or so.
2) Supposing that it is a crank seal/front main seal are there other items that should be addressed during this process? The previous owner years ago did a nice job taking care of the basic maintenance but over the past 4 years ago kind of let the car go.
3) When shopping for the gaskets for both the crank seal and the valve cover gasket there looked to be multiple options. Are there preferences on these?
Thanks for any advice and I could totally be wrong on all of my diagnosis of the car so feel free let me know what you think.
A few questions before I dive in are:
1) How can I be sure it is a crank seal that is bad or could it be the oil pan gasket? Is there anything that gives an indication of one over the other? It leaks about a 6" puddle once fired up or driven around. Here's a picture of the area leak. I am planning on scrubbing down the entire area to get a better look in the next day or so.
2) Supposing that it is a crank seal/front main seal are there other items that should be addressed during this process? The previous owner years ago did a nice job taking care of the basic maintenance but over the past 4 years ago kind of let the car go.
3) When shopping for the gaskets for both the crank seal and the valve cover gasket there looked to be multiple options. Are there preferences on these?
Thanks for any advice and I could totally be wrong on all of my diagnosis of the car so feel free let me know what you think.