Ive done dozens of them but decided to buy the gould kit to have the tooling and it actually comes with two seal kits. I actually learned a couple tricks from the dvd that i didnt know before.

Any oil resistant rtv will work. Ive used grey, black, red and blue. Never had any leak

Yeah... I'm going to pull the cover and reseal the gear case completely. It won't both me a bit.

 

Q: MnTom the gear case cover is just put on with silicone (grey) correct?

Are you leaking between the gear case and the block at all?

You can replace the front crank seal with the cover on. Carefully pry out the old seal from the cover with out damaging the cover or crankshaft. Use tool #6635 with the front pulley and press the seal into the cover (page 9-34  dodge truck service manual) or put it in with a hammer and a steel drift tapping the outside edge "walking around" the seal until its flush with the cover.  I've installed many a seal this way.

Heck at this rate I'll save a bunch of time on the seal too. Thanks Guys...

Yeah... I'm going to pull the cover and reseal the gear case completely. It won't both me a bit.

 

Q: MnTom the gear case cover is just put on with silicone (grey) correct?

Yep, as stated earlier, any oil resistant silicone works, but the geey stuff seems to be slightly thicker in viscosity (IMHO).

I put a stick through my radiator over the summer. While I had the old radiator out and fan out I figured it was as good a time as any to - 1) remove the damper to do a thorough inspection, 2) pull the cover to check the KDP, and 3) change the front main seal that was just starting to get a little damp.

You can have the damper and the front cover off in less than a half hour.

Hope I don't get kicked for this comment, but wouldn't it be nice if we could turn that sucker into a mechanical lift pump?   It's already geared into the engine

Edited January 31, 201510 yr by JAG1

Hope I don't get kicked for this comment, but wouldn't it be nice if we could turn that sucker into a mechanical lift pump?   It's already geared into the engine

 

Your not going to get kicked but 12V mechanical lift pumps come up short on the upper end of RPM so they don't flow as well at high RPMs as they do with lower RPM's. so they aren't all the great either.

Your not going to get kicked but 12V mechanical lift pumps come up short on the upper end of RPM so they don't flow as well at high RPMs as they do with lower RPM's. so they aren't all the great either.

Yeah, they may only cost $100, and be good for 300k, but they don't flow that great, only able to support 400 hp or so... Until you modify them. hehehe 

 

I just rebuilt a 01 power steering pump to throw on my 96 yesterday as well, got plenty of pictures, so hoping to do a write-up too.  

Yeah, they may only cost $100, and be good for 300k, but they don't flow that great, only able to support 400 hp or so... Until you modify them. hehehe 

We've got a few of them at work and they are all still on the original pump with over 10k hours. I've also got a couple of friends with lightly modded 12 valves and the mechanical pump does just fine for them too.

glad to hear you are pulling the cover to install the seal. I've never like the idea of putting any kind of force on a cover when it's not supported from behind.

glad to hear you are pulling the cover to install the seal. I've never like the idea of putting any kind of force on a cover when it's not supported from behind.

 

If the housing is cast steel there's no problem removing the seal with a seal puller or screwdriver and tap the new seal in. If the housing is stamped steel you have to use due diligence on how much force to use. If the force needed to remove or install the seal seems excessive, remove the housing even if the manual says you don't have to.

Well I've got wet spots along the bottom edge away from the actual seal. I'm not certain if if the cover leaking or not. So why chance it. I'll pull the cover and clean it up. Not a huge deal yeah it's going to add some time but like I said before I'd wanted to grab some gear case pics.

If the housing is cast steel there's no problem removing the seal with a seal puller or screwdriver and tap the new seal in. If the housing is stamped steel you have to use due diligence on how much force to use. If the force needed to remove or install the seal seems excessive, remove the housing even if the manual says you don't have to.

what's yer opinion of cast aluminum?

what's yer opinion of cast aluminum?

It breaks real easily..............

I've worked with cast aluminum cylinder heads,intake manifolds, engine blocks, bell housings, and transmission cases. I've found in some applications such as intake manifolds and bell housings the aluminum to be brittle. Flanges will snap off or a case crack if things aren't lined up perfectly, over tightened or forced.

 

The aluminum alloy in cylinder heads and engine blocks seems to be a little bit softer. When cleaning old gasket material off with a razor blade care must be take not to gouge the surface. It's real easy to over tighten bolt and pull the threads out so it is important to torque all bolts to specification

 

This week i'll be replacing front cam seals on a twin cam aluminum cylinder head with variable cam timing. I'll use a screw driver to pull the seals out and a small hammer and drift to install them.    

Well I'm on my way of the crank seal now. My garden hose is frozen so I'm thawing it out so I can power wash the front cover. Nasty looking. I might not get the leak fixed. I notice the crank has a bit of groove in the spot where the front lip rode.

Well I'm on my way of the crank seal now. My garden hose is frozen so I'm thawing it out so I can power wash the front cover. Nasty looking. I might not get the leak fixed. I notice the crank has a bit of groove in the spot where the front lip rode.

I just did a front crank seal on a pickup last week. It also had a groove in the crank and if you notice the seal should be flush with the cover. With the new seal I drive it in with the seal driver until the seal driver almost bottoms out. Now the seal rides on a different spot of the crank. Problem solved. Been doing it this way for 10 years with no problems

Well... I learned a bunch doing this job. As for installing the seal into cover and then putting the cover back on is insane with edges full of fresh silicone. Much easier to install the cleaned cover and then install the crank seal. I did the same thing and drove the seal in just a bit deeper to make it ride in a different spot. Great minds think alike. Heck in 240k miles and crank seal is being replaced. No biggy. Next time I'll most likely order the seal with the sleeve. As for removal of the seal a screwdriver and rubber hammer and it pop out in a few hits. Still pickin' silicone off my hands and arms.

For the average guy the hardest part of the job is getting the fan unscrewed..... For the rest a 10mm socket is about all you need!

Well... I learned a bunch doing this job. As for installing the seal into cover and then putting the cover back on is insane with edges full of fresh silicone. Much easier to install the cleaned cover and then install the crank seal. I did the same thing and drove the seal in just a bit deeper to make it ride in a different spot. Great minds think alike. Heck in 240k miles and crank seal is being replaced. No biggy. Next time I'll most likely order the seal with the sleeve. As for removal of the seal a screwdriver and rubber hammer and it pop out in a few hits. Still pickin' silicone off my hands and arms.

I hope you put it on dry, with no oil. Last one I did on 12valve I did a little research and found out that if you remove front cover and reinstall it with old seal you can put little bit of oil on it, but if you replace seal crank and seal got to be dry for it to wear in place. Or there is a change of it leaking later.