# 96 B14 Sentra From Main Crank Shaft Seal



## SentraThis96 (Nov 14, 2009)

The dreaded oil leak nightmare... Started at about 160k miles (now at 169k). I thought it was the gasket on the bolt on the oil pan but it was to my own ignorance that wet dreams rarely come true. I degreased the entire engine and placed a piece of cardboard underneath the car to try to pin point where the leak was coming from. Looks like the front crank seal to me. My question is, is there anything I can do to fix or even prevent the oil from leaking til I can afford to put a new crank seal in as I do not think i can tackle this project on a front wheel drive car.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Piece of cake job...

Crank seal costs $3, yes three dollars.

Take off the passenger side tire

Take out the inner fender well splash shield

Loosen up the power steering pump belt with the little adjuster (a bit of a bitch to get to but is easily done with the right socket set)

Take off the belts

Take out the big bolt in the middle of the pulley

Wiggle the crank pulley off

Pry out the old seal with a screwdriver. Take it easy on the crankshaft nose, try not to gouge it up.

Pop in the new seal. Make sure it's nice and straight. Maybe use a big ol' socket to help drive it in straight. And use a bit of oil on the seal itself and the shaft to help it slide on there.

Put it all back together.

1st time, it took me about half-an-hour on my '98 200SX/SE (1.6L)
2nd time, took me about 15 minutes on my '98 Sentra (1.6L)


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## SentraThis96 (Nov 14, 2009)

jdgrotte said:


> Piece of cake job...
> 
> Crank seal costs $3, yes three dollars.
> 
> ...


Oh wow man that seems A LOT easier than it looked. A lot of my friends said I had to pull the engine (they probably thought I was talking about rear seal) and others said i had to go all the way down to harmonic balancer?? I have read in forums that it can sometimes be hard to get the crank pulley off, if i run into this problem what is the easiest way to get it off? Thanks SOOO much for your post


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

SentraThis96 said:


> Oh wow man that seems A LOT easier than it looked. A lot of my friends said I had to pull the engine (they probably thought I was talking about rear seal) and others said i had to go all the way down to harmonic balancer?? I have read in forums that it can sometimes be hard to get the crank pulley off, if i run into this problem what is the easiest way to get it off? Thanks SOOO much for your post


No worse than changing spark plugs...ok maybe a bit...
The nut on the pulley might be a bit of a pain. Just put it in first gear, put on the e-brake, and turn it off. My 2nd one was extremely tight, and I don't suggest this, but I ended up putting a breaker bar on it and turning the engine over briefly to break it loose.
Also, the pulley itself might not want to come off. Just tap on the sides a bit with a rubber mallet while trying to work it off. Use a side-to-side pulling motion and it should pull right off.


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## SentraThis96 (Nov 14, 2009)

jdgrotte said:


> No worse than changing spark plugs...ok maybe a bit...
> The nut on the pulley might be a bit of a pain. Just put it in first gear, put on the e-brake, and turn it off. My 2nd one was extremely tight, and I don't suggest this, but I ended up putting a breaker bar on it and turning the engine over briefly to break it loose.
> Also, the pulley itself might not want to come off. Just tap on the sides a bit with a rubber mallet while trying to work it off. Use a side-to-side pulling motion and it should pull right off.


What exactly do you mean when you said put it in first, rip the e-brake and turn it off? Well I'll tackle it this weekend and let you know how it goes. If all goes well I'll change the oil and give my crankcase some steroids in royal purple form since I know it'll hold it this time :waving:


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

SentraThis96 said:


> What exactly do you mean when you said put it in first, rip the e-brake and turn it off? Well I'll tackle it this weekend and let you know how it goes. If all goes well I'll change the oil and give my crankcase some steroids in royal purple form since I know it'll hold it this time :waving:


Put the transmission in 1st gear...
Put on the e-brake to keep the car from moving...
Put a socket on the bolt in the middle of the pulley...
Turn the socket...
If you didn't have it in 1st gear and/or didn't have the e-brake on, most likely you'd turn the socket and the car would move backwards because you're turning the engine.
Either that or use an impact wrench.


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## SentraThis96 (Nov 14, 2009)

jdgrotte said:


> Put the transmission in 1st gear...
> Put on the e-brake to keep the car from moving...
> Put a socket on the bolt in the middle of the pulley...
> Turn the socket...
> ...


Ahh ok, didn't really think about what you were saying sorry. Can I see any oil leaks if I put everything back together or should I leave everything off? Just to make sure the seal is snug?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

SentraThis96 said:


> Ahh ok, didn't really think about what you were saying sorry. Can I see any oil leaks if I put everything back together or should I leave everything off? Just to make sure the seal is snug?


Nope, probably won't see any oil leaks until you get it warmed up, drive it, and park it for awhile.
As far as the seal, drive it in until it's flush, no more, no less. The pulley will seat it the rest of the way if you don't have it all the way in, but don't count on it.


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