I have a 1998 Tracker 1.6L -16 valve.  I have an oil leak in the front of the engine and I am assuming that it is the crankshaft seal.     I have a new water pump, seals and timing belt.  I read that this is an interference engine and I am terrified of screwing something up now by getting the timing screwed up.

Do I need to rent special tools to remove the pulleys?
Do you have any tips for me or anything that I need to know?

 


Thanks

It is an interference engine, but, if you rotate the engine to line up the marks BEFORE removing the belt, you'll be just fine.

The crank pulley is two piece, the outer piece is held by either 4 or 5 bolts and can be removed separately, for example if you were just changing the timing belt, you would only remove the outer piece to get the timing cover off.  Even though you're changing the seal, I would take it off as two pieces, it'll make it easier to see what you're doing.

The crank bolt is held in place with loctite, it's going to be a pain in the butt to release, heat helps - you can pull the old seal out by carefully driving a couple of sheet metal screws into it and then yanking them with a pair of pliers - make yourself some sort of shield to guide the seal into place over the edge of the crank, thin plastic sheet from a sheet protector (think stationery - three ring binder here) should do the trick.

Thanks for the tips.  I will be tackling this job tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be as easy as everybody makes it sound.

will I need a special puller to remove the crankshaft or camshaft pulley?

They should slide off with a little side to side action while removing. Pay attention to the keys and keyways. Can gently pry/lever evenly to assist if have to.

Be sure crank pulley is loctite'd and torqued to spec- heard they cause problems when loose.

The crank pully can be a pain in the butt - you can do a home made puller from a scrap of flat stock with two holes and thread bolts into the holes that hold the outer pulley in place - it's more snug than anything else.

I finished the job and it went pretty smooth.  The crank came off easily with no tools.   Now, I  have new accessory belts, timing belt, crankshaft seal and water pump.

It took me about 5.5 hours.

THANKS FOR ALL OF THE HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS!

Did you replace the cam seal too?  I have seen them leak just as often as crank seals.

yes.  I wanted to replace as much stuff as I could when I was in there because none of it has been replaced in the 5 years that I have owned it.
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yes.  I wanted to replace as much stuff as I could when I was in there because none of it has been replaced in the 5 years that I have owned it.
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Cool.  That should take care of the leaking.