Mower Crankshart Oil Seal Continues to Leak

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What Causes a Crankshaft Seal to Leak?

It can be frustrating enough to have oil leaks in your car. These come as no fun unless you simply want to ride the last few miles before your car heads to the junkyard.

The Most common causes are crankshaft condition, main bearings, misalignment issues and poor seal coating. Ideally, low levels of oil in your engine will deny the crankshaft and camshaft enough lubrication.

Oil leaks in your car cause multiple problems.To start with, they will always make a mess by covering your engine with spills of the dark, dirty mess that you do want to touch.

When this gets to the underside of your engine, it's sometimes difficult to get rid of.

Once this oil gets to your outer part of the engine, it attracts dust and dirt, making a kind of sludge you might not want to see.

One of the causes of oil leaks is a crankshaft seal. If this seal is leaking oil in your car, it's very concerning, and you might wonder if it poses a danger to your engine.

You might also be asking, what causes a crankshaft seal to leak?

If you allow a crankshaft seal to continue leaking oil, the oil might end up burning on the body of your engine due to the engine's high temperature.

This might cause dangerous fumes or even fire. However, the most serious concern is when oil leaks lead to lower levels of engine oil.

When the oil leaks to dangerously low levels, this might result in the most feared engine knock and other damages whose replacement or repair cost will be uncomfortable to bear.

In extreme cases, the oil might get too low to scarcely cover the oil pump, leading to low oil pressure and a bigger problem.

Are There Specific Factors That Make My Crankshaft Seal More Vulnerable To Leaking?

Yes. There are many factors for consideration when it comes to the vulnerability of a crankshaft seal leak.

First, the engine oil condition is of much relevance in affecting the crankshaft seal leak.

If you are using the wrong type of oil or are using low oil necessary for the sub, you are making your crankshaft seal vulnerable to leaking.

There are additives in all oils, and some of the additives might corrode the rubber that makes the seal, occasioning a leak.

Also, if you change the engine oil irregularly, it might deteriorate the quality of the seal.

Another predisposing factor is worn main bearings. When your engine bearings are worn out, there will be dangling off the crankshaft inside the bearings.

This will automatically stretch the seal, leading to leaks.

Again, the crankshaft condition might make your seal vulnerable to leakage.

If the crankshaft surface is worn out or has imperfections, it will cause a leak. Such cases require installing a sleeve kit on it.

Also, excessive engine blow might be a precursor to seal leaks. Other causes are misalignment issues and poor seal coating.

Is The Crankshaft Leak An Expensive Replacement?

Yes. The crankshaft leak replacement is significantly expensive due to the work and expertise involved in the procedure. On average, it will cost about $600 to $900.

At the back of every engine, between transmission and the engine, the crankshaft protects a crankshaft's end from leaking.

For the average person, repairing the crankshaft is financially tormenting as it involves removing the transmission, which is about the engine's total dismantling.

With the engine mounted diagonally on front-wheel-cars, the side with tensioners, suspension belt, and idler pulleys is the engine's back.

This scenario presents a challenge in diagnosing a leak from the crankshaft seal. The reason for this is that oil drips at the point the transmission is connected to the engine.

The crankshaft for hybrid cars is made of either rubber or silicone.

Due to corrosion from road salt and other reasons, as we have discussed elsewhere in this article, the seal will wear out over time.

Since it's not only dangerous to drive with a leaking main seal, but it can also lead to an expensive repair, it's critical to identify the symptoms of a leaking crankshaft.

Is It Hard To Identify A Leaking Crankshaft?

Yes. It's not necessarily easy to know when a crankshaft is leaking. The seal's location alone makes it hard to detect and fix a crankshaft seal leak.

However, several symptoms will indicate that you have a crankshaft seal leak.

First, you will notice oil puddles on the driveway or garage floor when the crankshaft seal is leaking.

This comes as the most common sign that an engine has a crankshaft seal leak.

Unfortunately, this alone might not suggest that you have a crankshaft seal leak since the oil might as well come from other parts of the engine.

Regardless of whether the vehicles are parked or being driven, the oil puddles are visible.

Consequently, it becomes critical to diagnose the exact place from where the leak is coming and avoid abrupt conclusions that it is the crankshaft.

Again, if the crankshaft is leaking, you might also see smoke from the vehicles under.

Since the oil from the crankshaft will fall on the exhaust, there will be smoke as the exhaust heats up.

Therefore, you need to distinguish between smoke from the tailpipe and smoke from under the car.

Again, with a leaking crankshaft, there will be some accumulation of both debris and dirt. Since oil leaks have an adhesive ability, you will have dirt and debris covering the oil covers.

Anytime I see an accumulation of dust and dirt, I know that I have a leaking component. It might not be the crankshaft.

But there is always a leaking component when I notice dust and dirt accumulation.

However, for the crankshaft leak, the accumulation should be between the engine and the transmission.

If you notice this in your car, it is a good sign that you might have a leaking crankshaft.

If the leak is not robust, a crankshaft sealer might work for you.

Should My Crankshaft Seal Be Replaced Immediately?

Not necessarily. Although a crankshaft seal leak is dangerous, you don't always have to replace the seal.

However, remember that it might be catastrophic to your vehicle if you have a crankshaft leak that is not addressed on time.

When your engine oil is being lost in that way, it is important to act swiftly. A short delay might be all that is required to cause significant engine damage.

Fortunately, if the seal is deformed or shrunk due to irregular use, there is no need to spend a lot of time addressing the leak.

In this case, all you need will be to recondition the seal and continue using the car.

I have done this many times on my SUV as I rarely use it. I have used the crankshaft stop leak with much success.

The blue devil crankshaft seems to work fine for minor crankshaft oil leaks. However, when the leak is big, there is no other way but to replace the seal.

To replace the crankshaft seal, you will first need to disconnect the battery.

This is because the starter will need to be removed, and it's a safe way of avoiding a short circuit or an electrical jolt.

After this, remove the transmission and note that you will have to move some components like the exhaust system and the driveshaft in some vehicles.

Everything that might in any way hinder the removal of the transmission should be removed prior to removing the transmission itself.

Again, if your car is an automatic model, the torque converter and the flexplate should be separated by disconnecting them.

You will need to lose a bolt at a time in the torque converter.

Start by losing one bolt, after which you will turn the engine in a clockwise manner to access the next bolt.

Which you will lose and continue the process until you are done with all the bolts.

After this, remove the flywheel and the clutch if it's a manual transmission. For an automatic transmission, all you need to remove will be the flax plate.

After this, since the transmission is removed, remove the crankshaft bolts. First, remove the crankshaft seal housing by taking off the bolts that link it to the engine block.

After removing these 12 mm or 10 mm bolts, remove the crankshaft seal, but it might be stubborn.

You might need to pry it off to remove it from the housing. This should be done gently.

Normally, the seals have numbers that indicate their size, but you can compare the old seal with the new one, ensuring both internal and external diameters match.

After confirming the size, you will be ready to install the new seal. Start by cleaning the seal housing by using a gasket scraper to remove the old seal debris.

When you are sure the debris is removed, evenly hammer in the new seal after placing it into the housing.

It's essential to ensure that your new seal is coated with new oil.

After this, apply a sealant on the surface. You have finished your installation, and you will now need to follow the process back to the starting point.

Is Disassembling The Engine And Replacing The Seals A Viable Solution To Oil Leaks?

Yes. This has been the most embraced way to replace gasket and oil seals in the engine for years.

Replacing oil seals should correct oil leaks when done by a qualified professional.

Made of paper, a gasket seals two stationary parts of your engine and prevents oil from getting to where it should not be.

This applies to components like timing covers, valve covers, or the oil pan.

On the other hand, seals are fixed at shafts' ends to ensure the oil doesn't seep after the shaft when spinning.

To support all shafts in the engine (like crankshaft or camshaft), get their support from bearings. These bearings need adequate lubrication to keep them from fast wearing out.

The lubricating oil must be contained inside the engine. This is when the shaft finds its way out of the engine, and a seal will work well to keep the oil in.

All seals in your engine get to do this task at diverse temperatures and other harsh conditions.

Are There Ways I Can Prevent Crankshaft Seal Leaks?

Yes. You can use some oil additives to deal with seal leaks.

However, although modern technology has allowed the use of engine oil additive touted to repair crankshaft seals.

A vast majority of motorists still use the conventional way of dealing with oil leaks.

Crankshafts oil seals leak as a result of diverse reasons. For instance, simple wear and tear might lead to wearing the inside of the shaft seal.

This wearing happens over time until the seal starts to leak oil.

This is a process that can be accelerated by low oil levels that cause inadequate lubrication.

In addition to this, the material making the oil seal might also deform with time leading to oil leaks.

This happens more if the car is rarely used as the seals dry up due to lack of oil.

Additionally, as the rubber is kept pliable by constant oil baths resulting from vehicle use, leaks can be occasioned by cars that stay stationary for months.

In many cases, replacing the gasket is a relatively easy task. For the engines that have overhead camshafts.

It might be relatively easy to access the camshaft seals from the top front of your engine.

Likewise, valve cover seals will rarely require removing many components to enhance replacement. Their location on top of the engine makes it relatively easy to replace.

Unfortunately, your crankshaft seal (Amazon Link) is not as straightforward as any other seals in the engine.

Being the hardest whose seals to replace, the crankshaft has a seal at the back and front, requiring removing a significant part of the engine to enable replacement.

Indeed, some cases will call for the complete removal of the motor to replace these seals.

Conclusion

There are many causes of a crankshaft seal leak.

Among these are the engine oil condition, worn main bearings, crankshaft condition, excessive engine blow, misalignment issues, and poor seal coating.

It's possible to prevent costly repairs by addressing crankshaft seal leak as soon as it's identified.

It's always required that you stay on the lookout for telltale signs of any oil leaks from your engine.

You might be able to avoid the seal replacement if you arrest the leak early.

However, if it takes too long before it's discovered or addressed, there might have to be a replacement, which is expensive.

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Source: https://tiresandgears.com/what-causes-a-crankshaft-seal-to-leak/

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