Help Mechanic delimma--shredding belts, leaking crankseal, but wait theres more!!! (1 Viewer)

[corn man]

Boys--my first "help" thread... so here it goes.

Developed an oil leak in the last week--enough to drip on the garage floor, so I took it to a local shop that another 'mud guy recommended vs. my usual mechanic. New mechanic said the leak is the crank seal and that they may have to replace the harmonic balancer if they can't "fix it with a sleeve?" Estimated repairs $800 if they can't repair balancer. I asked when is the last time they saw this--they said never. Kicker is the mechanic I usually take it to put my belts on the wrong side of the idler pulley and they shredded 3x in a year because of the tension (no charge each time I took it back). I posted some pics to another local mudder (thank you BADM) and he immediately saw the problem of the shredding. My usual mechanic corrected it, but now I have this leaking develop 3 months after the belts were installed correctly, so I decided to try the new mechanic recommended by JROB...

Questions:

1. Is this leak just bad luck or could the over tension of the drive belts cause this? New mechanic says no.

2. I searched here and it looks like Beno recommends to also do the following while doing the crank seal:

a. Crank seal
b. Oil pump o-ring
c. Belts (if old)
d. Dizzy (distributor?) o-ring (if leaking)
e. Fan clutch/water pump if needed

New mechanic said that they didn't need to do the others. I obviously have replaced belts and also did a tune up when I bought 3 years ago and I assume the Distributor o-ring was done then. I have no record of the fan clutch or water pump being done as I have not done them. Never had a drop of oil on the floor until this--the truck is more grocery getter than anything…
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance…

 

[landtank]

crank seals aren't a problem with leaks. The usual culprit is either

oil pump cover seal
Distributor seal
crank position seal

The oil pump cover seal is real common and can be devistating if it fails completely. I'd have them look at that real close.

 

[doc W]

Agreed. You need to remove the crank nut to get at the oil pump cover. However make sure it is not your dizzy O ring that is leaking. Check around the base of the distributor. You may be able to just replace the oil pump gasket, put in a new crank seal while you can and see if that solves the problem. The mechanic wanting to "sleeve" the crank sounds a little suspect.

Good luck with it.

 

[Kernal]

What everyone above said; I'll just add that if you haven't already, wash off the front of the engine very well from the front of the valve cover (not the top) down to the crank pulley and to the right of the crank pulley where the oil pump cover is. Same from below, washing the front of the oil pan off and just below the crank pulley. Then watch it very closely, like after just starting the engine or after a short drive. I've found that taking digital photos of the suspect areas works very well to help find the leaks, you can magnify the photos on your computer which should show you what areas get wet first. Definitely the oil pump cover can leak way more than the crank seal usually does along with the other areas mentioned above. Do a search for oil+pump+cover.

 

[corn man]

Thanks boys. I will do my homework and update.

Am I driving a ticking time bomb, or as long as I keep an eye on the oil level should I be ok? Leaking about 1/2 quart week...

 

[Kernal]

That's a lot of oil. Here's a link to a thread on the oil pump cover O-ring replacement procedure.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/72514-how-replace-oil-pump-seal-w-pics.html

There are some good photos that show where the leaks start from if that's the culprit. Either way once the crank pulley is off you'll want to do both the crank seal and oil pump cover O-ring at the same time.

 

[powderpig]

Well yes, if it is the oil pump seal and I do believe it could be. I have not seen where the crank will need a sleeve(even the worst one, the new seal puts the seal lip into a different position on the crank if they use a stock Toyota seal). If the oil pump seal is failing and leaking that much oil, then everything past the oil pump will be getting less pressure and oil flow. So what do you think will happen if the leak gets worse? What parts will be getting less oil? Well the bottom end will suffer. The longer you let a oil pump leak go, the more likely you could damage the crank and rod bearings.
I think you may need to find a different Mechanic that knows these trucks better. This job is no more than a 2.5 to 3 hr job with the crank seal going for around 20-25 dollars and the oil pump seal going for 3-4 dollars and if you replace the screws(I hardly mess these up any more), another 7-10 dollars. Add in some coolant(not much unless the shop is going to do a coolant flush at the same time).
Good luck with this.