Looking for Front Crank Seal DIY

[ArtiM3]

Attached DIY for vibration damper. After you remove it you will have clear access to front seal. I hope it helps.

[F1Dryvr]

So think i successfully got it installed, several question marks remain, but after trashing and tossing 2 front crankseals, i think i got it in there. Well see in the next month or so if it does leak....

Thanks to the blue solo cup method i was able to slide the seal over the shaft and tap it into place with a 42mm socket or whatever does the front wheel bearing nut. I spent an hour carefully making a block of wood to fit the damper bolts, the damper washer, cleaning up the wood edges, and notching out the spot for the dowel(my source of failure trying it this way before.) In the end i didnt need the wood block. I wanted to make sure the inner seal had a good guide over the crank and with the wood you cant see anything until youre done.

So the DIY as i did it was: Find an appropriately sized solo cup, cut the lip off at the mouth end, cut the bottom off about half way down. youll want to set the seal on the smooth last part where the mouth of the cup was, minus the lip on the cup. Cut the remainder of the cup longitudinally and roll it into a conical shape such that the large end makes it over the crank. Test fit with it inside the inner seal and over the crank, and unlike me, make another cut to minimize overlap with the ends of the cup. You need some but i had an inch or more and this makes it a pain(and a question as to whether some might have broken off inside the seal) to remove after install.

Now is the time to become very meticulous. Guestimate the distance that the inner seal will sit on the crank once the outer surface is flush with the timing cover.. This is where you want the inner crank edge of the cup to sit, so that there's minimal cup to pull out when you get it set. Then even out the seal into the timing cover and using the 42mm socket, tap the seal in over the cup until flush. Mine ended up w/ appox 1mm under the lip of the timing cover and i doubt that will matter, just make sure its even all the way around. Then if youve measured carefully, your cup should pull out easily and your seal should be set. Part of removing the cup was easy but the overlapped part took some tugging, so i went super slow and it appears to have set properly. Because i had so much cup overlap, the cup started tearing and Im slightly unsure if some broke off inside. I doubt it because the inner seal is flush all the way around. This can be checked by very carefully putting a razor blade or pick and lifting up the very small black rubber dust cover and examining around with a headlight if youre unsure. Probably a good idea anyway bc the inner seal so easily bunches up.

Do not use the white inner sheath that comes with the seal. Its not long enough to seat the inner seal around the crank, even if you follow the pelican parts diy and drill a hole for the dowell . As i think about it it may actually work if you press the seal into the timing cover first then run the whole timing cover/crank seal over the crank. But this sounds tedious with 4+ gaskets plus permatex and the seal to think about, im not sure this is a good option.

[heinzboehmer]

I wanted to make sure the inner seal had a good guide over the crank and with the wood you cant see anything until youre done.

Yeah that's the one issue with that method. I ended up tightening each bolt 1/4 turn or so at a time and every full turn would completely pull the block off to check that everything was going well. Incredibly tedious, but I didn't want to mess anything up (for like the fourth time lol I hate this seal).

Glad you finally got it installed!