Oil leak, looks like front crank
- Thread starter snowwolf
- Start date
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Thats what I thought about my 96 so to be sure I steam cleaned it while on the lift. It was hard to tell where exactly the leak was coming from even after cleaning all the oil and grime. I noticed too that it was leaking really bad when the engine is warm or at operating temp the radiator fan obviously makes it hard to see if it's my front crankshaft seal or the oil pump gasket so I prepared to replace both using the following info from maintenance FAQ :https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=72514
At first I was worried about doing the job myself because the stealership including some independent shops here in Socal quoted me between $600-$1300 for labor not including parts, but after reading zjz4476 procedure I was convinced that I can do it myself (thank you sir!) I followed the procedure step by step (better than the FSM) the tool suggestion was excellent, I got all the parts from a local dealer for about $100 as listed on the FAQ procedure plus all belts, took me about 5 hours without removing the radiator
during my final inspection prior to replacing the skid? plate/protector I noticed a bit of oil from the crank sensor so I went ahead and took the cover(strip of metal covering the crank sensor and wire) off sprayed the sensor with decreaser, surprise! the sensor (plastic part) has a hairline crack so I removed it, cleaned and applied some FIPG on the surface behind the o ring of the crank sensor and added a thin flat washer on the mounting screws to even out pressure on the plastic part(sorry I dont have a Picture). Torqued everything, replaced all covers and waited at least an hour for the FIPG to dry before refilling oil. Not a bad afternoon spent giving my TLC some real TLC specially with the savings which I will now invest maybe on my shocks
. Again thanks to zjz4476 and to all who contribute their knowledge and experience to the forum 
p.s. I did it with handtools only no pneumatics, impacts or power tools. It's been a few days since and so far no leak. I hope my experience helps.
At first I was worried about doing the job myself because the stealership including some independent shops here in Socal quoted me between $600-$1300 for labor not including parts, but after reading zjz4476 procedure I was convinced that I can do it myself (thank you sir!) I followed the procedure step by step (better than the FSM) the tool suggestion was excellent, I got all the parts from a local dealer for about $100 as listed on the FAQ procedure plus all belts, took me about 5 hours without removing the radiator
during my final inspection prior to replacing the skid? plate/protector I noticed a bit of oil from the crank sensor so I went ahead and took the cover(strip of metal covering the crank sensor and wire) off sprayed the sensor with decreaser, surprise! the sensor (plastic part) has a hairline crack so I removed it, cleaned and applied some FIPG on the surface behind the o ring of the crank sensor and added a thin flat washer on the mounting screws to even out pressure on the plastic part(sorry I dont have a Picture). Torqued everything, replaced all covers and waited at least an hour for the FIPG to dry before refilling oil. Not a bad afternoon spent giving my TLC some real TLC specially with the savings which I will now invest maybe on my shocks. Again thanks to zjz4476 and to all who contribute their knowledge and experience to the forum p.s. I did it with handtools only no pneumatics, impacts or power tools. It's been a few days since and so far no leak. I hope my experience helps.