spitfires
[Top] [All Lists]

Changing front oil seal

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Changing front oil seal
From: Greg Ames <greg.ames.90@alum.dartmouth.org>
Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2000 15:49:11 -0500
It looks like the front oil seal on my 72 MkIV is leaking.  Since I'm
changing the water pump, and have the radiator, etc. removed, I thought
this was a good time to change the seal.  Before I start breaking things, I
had a few quick questions:

 - How hard is it to remove the crank pulley bolt?  I was going to
   put the car in fourth and use an impact wrench or breaker bar.
   Are their any special tricks of which I should be aware?

 - Should I remove the timing chain cover to change the seal or
   do it with the cover in place?  I thought I'd remove the cover,
   since it looks like the gasket is weeping slightly.  I figured
   a fresh gasket's always a good thing.

 - If I take the cover off, should I do anything with the timing
   chain and tensioner?  The car has 59k miles.  The PO rebuilt
   the engine in the last 20k, but wasn't sure if he replaced the
   chain and tensioner.  Is the 1300 an interference engine?  How
   do I evaluate the chain and tensioner?  How much play is OK?

 - Before I removed the pump, I flushed the cooling system with
   clean water, and left the block drain open.  Will this leave
   any residual water in the block that could freeze, causing
   damage, or am I safe?  It's getting cold here in MA, USA.
   We just got our first road salting Sat night (blech).

Thanks for the help,
Greg


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>