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cam seals and crank seal removal question
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 5:54 pm
by simpreza2
Im doing a belt change and also doing the seals b/c of what I read on the board. I got the driver side cam seal but how would you change the pass side w/o scratching the cam or head? I had trouble with the driver side and that was off the car. Also on the driver side where does the O-ring go? when I took everything off I couldnt find a previous o-ring

Kind of on the same subject how would one go about removing the crank seal w/o messing everything up.
And I also replaced the water pump. How had should it be to turn the pump by hand? Its kind of tough, maybe I over tightened it?
Thanks,
Jon
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 6:08 pm
by THAWA
Have you tried a ring puller? They're like ten bucks or so, and do the job well. The o-ring i believe goes on the readr side of the head., or maybe thats on the pass side only. I dunno. As for the crank seal, I couldnt tell ya. You might have to remove the oil pump for that one.
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 9:31 pm
by legacy92ej22t
Use a drill and drill small holes in the seals. Then screw a couple screws into the holes and use them to pull the seals out. That's what I ended up doing anyways. Once I had the seals out I discovered that I was being timid in removing them and could have probably gotten them out with a flat head screw driver.
On the driverside cam, the o-ring is behind the plate that the cam seal goes into. IIRC there are 3 bolts holding the piece on. Unscrew these bolts, remove the plate and you'll find the o-ring. It should only add around 15-20 minutes to the job.
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 11:36 pm
by simpreza2
legacy92ej22t wrote:
On the driverside cam, the o-ring is behind the plate that the cam seal goes into. IIRC there are 3 bolts holding the piece on. Unscrew these bolts, remove the plate and you'll find the o-ring. It should only add around 15-20 minutes to the job.
I did remove the plate and its how I got the driver side seal out but I didnt see any o-ring. I have a diagram of where it goes but I dont understand where specifically. Im just worried I will mess something up. I just dont understand why I cant find the old seal
Thanks
Jon
oh yeah and if I used the screwdriver Im worried I will mess up the cam surface or head and it wont seal correctly.
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 12:41 am
by Legacy777
You need to take a small flathead screwdriver and shove it into the side of the oil seal that is next to the shaft. If you do it right, you can then take another screwdriver or something as a pivot point and push the screwdriver that's in the seal towards the block, on the pivot point, and it should then pop the seal out.
I know that's a little difficult to understand. I really need to make a little diagram.
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:00 pm
by simpreza2
Legacy777 wrote:You need to take a small flathead screwdriver and shove it into the side of the oil seal that is next to the shaft. If you do it right, you can then take another screwdriver or something as a pivot point and push the screwdriver that's in the seal towards the block, on the pivot point, and it should then pop the seal out.
I know that's a little difficult to understand. I really need to make a little diagram.
I tired the screwdriver and I got nowhere. Im worried im going to scratch camshaft. A picture/diagram woud be great. If you need a picture to "draw" on I can get one. I also tried to drill into the seals but I ended up breaking 2 bits so I stoped that.
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 2:27 pm
by Legacy777
I'll try and draw something up in Paint. It may not happen until tonight. PM me if I forget.
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 6:36 pm
by 94L_wagon
Are we talking about the brown seals that go just behind the pulleys on the cams/crank here, or something deeper in?
I pulled the front brown seals out with a seal puller. Cost about $10, and it's teflon coated so no worries about nicking the shafts.
My waterpump spun freely IIRC, Did you torque to the right specs and use a new gasket?
Re: cam seals and crank seal removal question
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:02 pm
by WRXdan
simpreza2 wrote:And I also replaced the water pump. How had should it be to turn the pump by hand? Its kind of tough, maybe I over tightened it?
Your pump should spin with little resistance. Did you torque in sequence? Did the gasket get caught up some how? The torque pattern is counter clockwise starting with the lower right bolt, maybe at your 4 o'clock if I remember correctly. The torque spec is low..like < 14 ft.lbs or something like that.
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:43 am
by simpreza2
I used a new gasket for the waterpump and torqued them down to specs( I dont remember specifically) I just wanted to make sure it wasnt supposed to spin freely. There is a little resistance but not too much. And how important is the tightening sequence? I did it like I would the wheel lugs (cross pattern)
And Ill see if I can pick up a seal puller tomarrow.
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 4:28 am
by WRXdan
simpreza2 wrote:I used a new gasket for the waterpump and torqued them down to specs( I dont remember specifically) I just wanted to make sure it wasnt supposed to spin freely. There is a little resistance but not too much. And how important is the tightening sequence? I did it like I would the wheel lugs (cross pattern)
And Ill see if I can pick up a seal puller tomarrow.
You need to follow the follow the sequence or risk a leak. When you spin the pump it won't freewheel. But it should spin with little effort.
The sequence isn't a cross pattern, I think it's a counter clock wise pattern...but check this first.
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:40 am
by 94L_wagon
I did this yesterday (twice

) and if I remember correctly (big if!) its clockwise - but anyway the gist of it is to go round the edge in a circlular pattern, which is a bit counter-intuitive.
Ok I just went down to the garage and gave the old one a spin. It does stop fairly quickly (within about 1 second from a brisk spin) and probably only spins about 1-1.5 turns. It does not offer much resistance though - very easy to turn.
Hope this helps,
Dave
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:51 pm
by simpreza2
OK I torqued the waterpump to specs in counterclockwise postition starting from the upper right (according to chilton) and I got the 2 cam seals changed. Im still working on the crank seal. With the driverside 0-ring, I still dont know where it goes and I cant find the old o-ring.
Thanks for all the help. This is the 1st time im doing real engine work and im just worried Im guna mess it up and the car wont start or is guna be leaking oil all over when I go to start it.
Thanks again
Jon
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:53 pm
by mTk
Did you pull off the assembly that's on the end of the camshaft on the driver's side?
MK
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:04 am
by simpreza2
mTk wrote:Did you pull off the assembly that's on the end of the camshaft on the driver's side?
MK
Yeah, I did. I looked all over for the old o-ring and I cant find it. Is it recessed into a groove or something?
Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2004 4:29 pm
by simpreza2
simpreza2 wrote:
Yeah, I did. I looked all over for the old o-ring and I cant find it. Is it recessed into a groove or something?
anybody?? I got all the seals done and im just waiting to put the driver side cam seal holder back on but I cant find the old o-ring to replace.
Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2004 6:59 pm
by THAWA
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:29 am
by kimokalihi
Last time I did this I was able to use a drywall screw but it did put a little nick in the head behind the seal. This time I tried the same method and it just tore a big hole in the seal.
So I got a seal puller today for $10. I dunno about this thing, we'll see.
I thought it would be different but basically it's just a sharp blade with a good curve on it that you jab in there and leverage the seal out I guess.
I was hoping it would somehow hook into both sides of the seal and use a threaded you would screw to pull it out. Kind of like a steering wheel puller or something.