Oil Pump Seal

[The Bus Driver]

I've tried to search multiple sites for this information, but have not found a definitive answer.

I'm in the process of changing my timing belt and noticed a bit of sludge at the bottom of my front cover, closer to the rear of the engine. I popped off the crankshaft sprocket and found no oil behind it. This leads me to believe it's one of two things, 1. Front of the oil pan is leaking near the timing belt; 2. The oil sprocket/pump seal is leaking. How does one change out the oil pump seal? I've noticed alot of places allude to it being behind the oil pump, inside of the front case, requiring dropping the oil pan. My car only has 58k on the odometer and the sludge is nothing to be alarmed over, but I would like to take care of it before it gets worse. If anyone can help me out, I would appreciate it.

 

[Strm Trpr]

Replacing the Oil Pump Seal is very easy.
1st Align all of your timing marks.... <a href = http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html>2g Timing Belt</a> as if you were doing a T-Belt job.
Sorry, you are doing a T-Belt job.... continue.....

Make sure the dowels on the cam gears are pointing at 12 o'clock and that all of the timing marks are aligned.
You can also pull the plug out of the block and put the screw driver in there to make sure the rear balance shaft
is in the correct phase, but it's not necessary to do so with what you are doing.

2nd, zip tie your T-Belt to your cams gears in say at 12 o'clock for both cam gears, and 9 o'clock for the exhaust gear,
and 3 o'clock for your intake cam gear.
Next, use some white out and mark your belt to your cam gears in a couple spots, mark your oil pump sprocket and your T-Belt,
and also your Crankshaft Sprocket and T-Belt. This will aid in helping you put it back together if somethings goes wrong and some teeth jump.
All you'll have to do is align the white marks and you're golden....

3rd, you'll need to use the T-Belt Tensioner tool or a long M8x1.25 pitch screw to depress the T-Belt Tensioner Arm so you can remove the T-Belt from the oil pump sprocket.
I used the T-Belt to help hold the oil pump sprocket while I loosened the nut....
Be careful with this, cuz you can slip some teeth if you're not careful.

4th, once the nut is loose, you can slip the belt only off of the oil pump sprocket and then pull the sprocket off.
The sprocket has a boss on the inside that seals the oil pump.
Once you've got the sprocket off, make sure and clean it real good with some brake cleaner. You'll want to make sure it's nice and clean on the inside of the sprocket....
When you reassemble, put a little bit of vasaline in there so the inner lip on your new seal won't overheat and start leaking prematurely.
Getting the seal out is a cake walk, once you're there you'll see.
Perhaps when replacing the seal, you can put a small amount of permatex gasket maker stuff around the outside rim of the seal just incase it wants to leak from between the seal and the front case.... Clean up any excess sealant.
Reassemble in the reverse order.
Oh, and if you don't have a service manual, get one, they're helpful in finding the correct torque specs and such....
I think it's 18ft*lbs, but I can't remember.....
Hope I helped, sorry so long....

 

[The Bus Driver]

Thanks for the help. So what I'm gathering is one can replace the seal without dropping the oil pan, correct? I'm golden if that's the case.

 

[Strm Trpr]

Indeed, you DO NOT have to drop the oil pan to replace the Oil Pump Shaft Seal.
Just pay attention to the inner boss of the oil pump sprocket.
Once you get to the seal, you'll see how the two parts work together to seal the shaft.
Make sure the boss is nice and clean, and use some assy lube to prevent the seal from becoming damaged on inital start-up....