Crankshaft Seal Sleeve Repair

It didn't look like that big of a deal. It was holding oil when I installed it. But that little nick in the crankshaft pulley was enough to create an annoying leak. The dent was smooth to the touch, but it was right where the seal contacted the pulley. It didn't take long for the oil to start leaking. When the oil gets all over the wheel and you can see it on the side of the car, you know you have a problem. 

It didn't leak at idle. After the engine was warm, you had to hold the engine at about 3000 RPM for a bit and then you'd see oil draining from the seal.  

I had at least two options. One was to buy a new pulley. I didn't even want to look it up to see how expensive a new pulley would be. I found it, finally. I had to look under harmonic balancer, and it was actually only $69.43 at fordparts.com. But I decided to try a repair sleeve, sometimes called a speedy sleeve or redi-sleeve. 

I've never had to do a repair sleeve for a seal before, and now was my chance. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. It was actually harder to install the seal than it was to install the repair sleeve. 

The instructions on the repair sleeve said to use a non-hardening sealer, so my best guess was Ultra RTV Black. I smeared that on the crank pulley and then used the included tool and a hammer to tap the sleeve into place. I just tapped lightly in circles until it was installed to the correct depth. 

Here's a picture of the pulley with the sleeve installed, and the tool sitting there on the pulley. I greased up the new surface to get it ready to install. The directions said that you could use the original seal and it would fit just fine. I made a preliminary test-fit before installing the new seal on the engine and verified that it fit. 

Getting the new seal installed into the timing cover was a little difficult. I had a wooden block with a hole in it for the crankshaft just for installing timing cover seals. I'd get it started and then it would start to go crooked. I'd tap one side and the other would pop right out. 

Sometimes it seems cars just want to try your patience. But I had more determination and showed it just who was boss. Sometimes it takes a firm smack in just the right place to get it to cooperate. I got the new seal in and re-installed the pulley with my pulley tool. No more leak. Yay!