Cause of oil leak?

[MojaveJoe]

Here's a pic of the area at the front of my crank shaft, showing oil leakage.
The leak seems to be originating from behind the "crankshaft damper and speed indicator ring" (old school we called it the harmonic balancer )

Is my crank front main seal leaking? Or something else?
How long before I need to replace it to avoid any damage?
Can I do the job myself?

About 145K on motor.

All advice and experiences welcome.
Thanks

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[rbattelle]

It looks to me like the front crank seal, but just to be sure try checking the torque on your oil pan bolts.

You can replace the seal, look at this thread. Also have a glance at this thread.

Ryan

 

[jakprince]

I wouldnt be real worried about that little leak yet. I would just keep an eye on it and if it gets worse then do something about it.

 

[amsoilman]

Your pictures appear to show leakage coming from the front gear case cover, usually caused by a blown seal on the case cover. In our shop we have found this seal blows out when the breather filter gets partialy plugged, causing pressure to rise inside the engine, thus plowing the cover seal out. The oil then runs down the gear case and onto the front area of the motor. The shop here has seen this many times.

 

[MojaveJoe]

I would have to agree with you amsoilman. Would replacing/cleaning the breather filter reduce the rate of oil blow-by coming out of the seal? Where is the breather filter?

And thanks to rbattelle and jakprince... Iam also giving your comments due consideration, with regards to this oil leak.

 

[amsoilman]

I would have to agree with you amsoilman. Would replacing/cleaning the breather filter reduce the rate of oil blow-by coming out of the seal? Where is the breather filter?



And thanks to rbattelle and jakprince... Iam also giving your comments due consideration, with regards to this oil leak.

The breather filter is located under the valve cover. I rather doubt just replacing the filter will do much for reducing the oil blowby at this point. However, I don't know for sure, as we just replace the seal on the cover, then replace the breather filter. We have also discovered different brand oils used will effect the breather plugging, simply due to the oil's Volatility.

 

[sag2]

That is really not much of a leak. I would wait until it is actually leaking before I attempted a repair. In the mean time, clean it up with brake clean, change the breather filter as mentioned and monitor where it starts to get wet again.

 

[GAmes]

It's a seal. Seals wear out and start to leak. Crankcase pressure and blowby isn't very likely on an engine with only 145k on it.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I have a similar leak except mine is coming from in between the A/C compressor and the gear case. I already had the seal and cover redone. That was leaking a little but this other leak seems to be the left side (looking from the front) of the gear case right where the oil pump is. It only leaks when it's running and it drips pretty good.