zeta

iTrader: (1)

I just completed one of these repairs on my octogenarian mother's 2001 Olds Alero with 62,420 miles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYTDMwxw4Ds
As you can see from the video above, it is not to terribly involved. Unfortunately, I did not have the air tools used, just rented the Harmonic damper remover and installer from AutoZone and wrenched it.

The local GM dealer average quote ranged between $200-250 tax included.

It cost me $11 dollars for the Timken oil seal and about four hours of my time.

I have never done any type of repair like this, or used a Harmonic damper puller/installer before. The starter method was used to loosen the 15mm crank bolt with one quick bump of the ignition. The crank pulley installer took a few minutes to figure out; however, it worked perfectly.

As mentioned in the video, it's prudent to place a little RTV in the keyway of the crank pulley to keep any oil from seeping via that area.

The only real problem I encountered was trying to seat the seal evenly within the cavity where it belongs. A GM engineer thought it was necessary to run two A/C lines along the beam in front of the crank pulley, blocking any reasonable attempt at an easy seal install. They are not shown on the video. That did not allow any possibility of using a socket and hammer to evenly start/seat the oil seal. I ended up using a thin brass rod to gently tap the seal, at the 12, 3, 6, & 9 o'clock positions, into place without distortion.

Before I did this repair, the car would have hard hot starts occasionally. After cleaning the oil/grim away from the crank position sensor and the ring on the crank it reads, the car starts very easily now during hot starts. I'm thinking that the caked on oil/grim in this area had an effect on the car starting normally.

Anyway, now there is no leak and one happy mother.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

had to look up "octogenarian"
Good Job on the repair!

Legend2TL

Nice repair, experience is the best lesson.

hANDYcaptd

iTrader: (5)

and

Majofo