[bolbers]

Hi all,

My crank pulley has some pitting that I believe is causing an oil leak at the front seal.

So I bought one of the OGTS repair sleeves and attempted to install it. I thought that the sleeve needed to be driven all the way down to the "step" at the base of the machined surface. So after tapping it on as far as I could with a wooden block, I tried a variety of implements and ended up making a horrible mess of it:

I searched the forums here for advice and found this one, in which a couple of the posters mention that they didn't drive the sleeve all the way down:

front leak causes?

If I remember correctly, the engine rotates such that you can loosen the pulley bolt using the correct socket and a breaker bar and just hit the starter motor for a second. You have to place the end of the breaker bar on the ground to the right of the pulley. Make sure you check engine...

www.opelgt.com

However, I couldn't find any confirmation whether or not these "partially seated" sleeves worked. It looks to me like the witness marks from the seal on my pulley would be past those sleeves, so I figured that wouldn't be far enough to get the job done

I suppose ideally I'd like to find a nice replacement pulley but can anyone offer additional insight on how far down these sleeves need to go if I try that route again?

Thx - Bob The Destroyer

 

[First opel 1981]

Often times the leak isn't at the seal, and your pitting isn't in the seal area.
As for driving the seal, it just has to go past the oil seal. Not bottomed out.

You could, if so inclined, have your crank pulley frozen with liquid nitrogen and then the sleeve should just slide right on.

 

[bolbers]

Thanks! I'm pretty sure that my leak is coming from the seal. I recently had the engine out to swap transmissions, so I took the opportunity to clean and paint things and to replace all the seals and gaskets. I have a four-post lift, so I was able to get underneath the car with the engine running and I could see a trail of oil coming right off the bottom of the pulley.

[I also managed to create a leak at the rear main where there had not been one before; I hope that was due to some issues I had getting the new seal installed that might have potentially damaged it, even though it looked fine from the outside. I just got done installing the third new seal (I mangled the second one when it got cockeyed in the bore) using a homemade driver I fashioned out of some plumbing adapters and a "horn" fashioned from a plastic drink cup to get the lip around the crank end. I have yet another new seal in reserve (I half-jokingly thought that buying an additional would serve as a ritual sacrifice with which to placate the seal deities...)]

Anyway, I pulled the engine/trans back out to try to fix those leaks as well as a couple of seals on the 4-speed that I had swapped in. Since everything was clean, it was pretty easy to see that I wasn't getting any leaks from the oil pan, timing cover, head gasket, valve cover, etc.

My pulley has some severe pitting at the base of the snout, but there is also some pitting up to about halfway to the tapered shoulder that isn't as obvious at first glance. So that's what I figure was causing the leak.

 

[hrcollinsjr]

You could, if so inclined, have your crank pulley frozen with liquid nitrogen and then the sleeve should just slide right on.

Since not everyone has quick access to liquid nitrogen, pop it in the freezer overnight and heat the sleeve in the oven before installing it. Should slide right on.

Harold

 

[RallyBob]

Since not everyone has quick access to liquid nitrogen, pop it in the freezer overnight and heat the sleeve in the oven before installing it. Should slide right on.

Harold

Harold, I doubt you’d even need that much temp variation. When I used to have flywheels machined (lightened), I would remove the ring gear with a brass drift and a hammer.

Installing it was just a matter of placing the flywheel in a freezer for 30-40 minutes, and heating the ring gear for 5 minutes with a heat gun (still cool enough to handle with bare hands). The ring gear would literally fall onto the flywheel. Even better, in the winter time I’d put the flywheel into a snow bank for 5-10 minutes and that was enough.

 

[hrcollinsjr]

Harold, I doubt you’d even need that much temp variation. When I used to have flywheels machined (lightened), I would remove the ring gear with a brass drift and a hammer.

Installing it was just a matter of placing the flywheel in a freezer for 30-40 minutes, and heating the ring gear for 5 minutes with a heat gun (still cool enough to handle with bare hands). The ring gear would literally fall onto the flywheel. Even better, in the winter time I’d put the flywheel into a snow bank for 5-10 minutes and that was enough.

And you're probably correct. I left my flywheel outside on a 20° night and popped the ring gear in the oven the next morning for a few minutes. I was prepared with a hammer and punch to tap it into place if I needed to. It had so much clearance it bounced when I dropped it in place. LOL

Harold

 

[Manta Rallier]

How bad has the leak been, Destroyer? If you had a drill press, I'd chuck that pulley into it, and spin it against a 1" wide strip of crocus cloth. That groove is not very much.

 

[First opel 1981]

Since not everyone has quick access to liquid nitrogen, pop it in the freezer overnight and heat the sleeve in the oven before installing it. Should slide right on.

Harold

I was being facetious.

A tip for anyone doing the heat thing. Do NOT do it with a torch or on the stove top. Use an oven or a toaster oven. Even heating, and not too hot, will work best. A 350 degree oven is all you need.

 

[jrapose]

If you need a pully I have a good one I would be happy to give you...I will never need it again....The only place that matters on the sleeve is just that tiny area where the sleeve runs...(mine is fine)...

Also you NEED to know that there are 36,500 drops in a quart...so don't worry too much about a drop or two... (Actual Factual)

 

[bolbers]

If you need a pully I have a good one I would be happy to give you...I will never need it again....The only place that matters on the sleeve is just that tiny area where the sleeve runs...(mine is fine)...

Also you NEED to know that there are 36,500 drops in a quart...so don't worry too much about a drop or two... (Actual Factual)

I’d love to get that pulley from you. I got new sleeves today for mine, but I’d still like a pulley that isn’t as pitted on the front ad mine (I’m, uh, a little OCD . Let me know what you want for it.
Thanks, Bob

 

[jrapose]

I don't want anything for it...just glad to help... PM me your address and I will box it up...Joel