big time oil leak crankshaft seal?

Hello everyone. I have a 96 1L 3cyl manual metro with 250,000 miles. I just noticed a huge oil leak and i think it is the crankshaft seal. there is oil all over the inside of the timing belt cover. the temp when this happend was -30 degrees the engine temp didnt get too hot or stay cold. I guess i am asking if there is anything else this leak could be from on that side of the engine? i am assuming the timing belt spinning deposited oil while spinning. i wouldnt think the camshaft seal could leak this much oil.

Thanks every one for all the other posts on crankshaft seal removal.

More than likely you are right on the money. Fairly easy to replace as well. do a new timing belt and you might consider a new water pump since you will have it exposed.

How do you get the crankshaft sprocket off? when i rebuilt my engine my buddy took it off and i new i wouldn't remember what he told me. I think i need to line up the slot with the mark on the engine but is it okay to turn the crankshaft to do that?

Thanks.

I noticed the 1.3L crank sprocket always seems tighter than the 1.0L which usually slides right off. I had to use a slide hammer to remove a stubborn one before.

Hi There.

I have a leak coming from this area as well.

How easy is it to replace timing belt and replace the front crank seal? I have been watching videos on youtube and it seems easy enough.

Can someone on here make a video of someone replacing it on geo metro, preferably 1995!

Thanks!

Geoff

Timing Belt..........
http://geometroforum.com/topic/2232748/

Crank Seal...........
http://geometroforum.com/topic/3083546/

Thanks for the links. so the sprocket just slides off no matter the position of the key slot? it is a 1.0L.

Mr. Hand its not to hard to do. you cant really mess anything up because if you do you just fix it again. With this forum most any question you ask will be answered with first hand knowledge of what you are looking at.
Good luck

So i must have one of the toughest crankshaft sprockets out there. I have tried prying, changing position, ruber mallet. I am looking into these slide hammers and was wondering how would they attach to the sprocket? would i need to drop my engine down to get enough force on it?

are you trying to get the damper pulley off or the gear behind it? if its the gear did you take the 17mm bolt off in the center of the cankshaft?

Its the gear i am trying to get off. i removed everything else lickity split even the center bolt thanks to the starter trick. the gear is just not sliding off. what i am thinking for my next attempt is to drop the engine down a little reattach the belt pully and use a puller to get some good pressure on it without breaking anymore teeth (oops) wasnt happy about that.

something always has to be difficult. i am going to be gone for the next few days so will try that on monday.

any other suggestions or ideas would be benificial.

you can try heat on the gear to see if it will come loose, you really don't want to pry between the block and gear, you can bend the big washer or chip a piece of the gear depending on year of engine. i would buy or rent a steering wheel puller with the 2 slots and center bolt, you can get 2 long bolts to bolt it to the gear and it should pull it off. another thing that seems to work is get some stuff called sili-kroil. i had a pathfinder gear that would not come off, sprayed some of that on both sides, let it sit for a day and it basically slid off next time i tried it. its just a little hard to find at most hardware stores

I had one on a 1.3L that was really tight so I used a slide hammer using one of the smaller bolts and gently tapped it off. Make sure you inspect the keyway and key for any damage.

you can also put damper back on with a couple of the smaller bolts and that gives you something to grab onto to pull on or tap with piece of wood or plastic mallet etc

Thanks guys i will be at it again tmw. I will go see if i can get a steering wheel puller. I already chiped a tooth off the gear (stupid frustration) i will try to jb weld it back on if i get it off and see what happens. I put the belt pully back on for the leverage. time will tell.

if you chipped the gear or broke off one of the rear teeth that go past the crank angle sensor you will need to replace the gear. jb weld won't hold for long. should be able to find a used one cheap

Alright the steering wheel puller worked like a charm.
the key way looks good no scrapes or gouges.

Thanks for letting me know about the JB weld unfortunatly the only scrap yard that has metros is 100 miles away so i will have to wait untill tmw to see if this seal was the problem.

Thanks alot every one.

i might have one, i would have to look, what part did you break? send me a pic if you can Crvett69@aol.com

Well i got everything back together and lo and behold it was the wrong seal. the leak was coming from the camshaft seal :( i got that off today and the seal was completly out of its seat. i read on this forum that a blocked PVC valve could create engine pressure to pop seals out but mine looks clear and air moves through. is there any other reason this could happen?

P.S moral of the story find out where the leak is because assuming leads to a big gas bill driving a truck around.

check the hose that goes from pvc valve to air cleaner and valve cover, i have seen that hose plug. take it off and blow though all the holes to make sure its clear. but i have also seen at one time or another all the seals on the metro engine walk out of hole so they leak like crazy. when i put new ones in i either stake them in with 3 chisel stakes or use some locktite being carefull to keep it off the seal surface, never had one come back out if i do that