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front main crankshaft seal

G

garfer03

NAXJA Forum User
Location
arlington, TX
so i'm doing all of the good regular mantiance on my jeep. the harmonic balancer is toast, so i pull it and while i'm replacing it i decide to do my front main seal as well.

well long story short, 2 days later, i've got the whole timing chain cover off, and have found what i can only describe as a "metal retainer" that held on the old front main seal, or at least went on top of it.

do i reuse the metal thing, because my new front main is just as large as the metal ring, and doesnt look like it'll fit.

i'm doing all of this work on an 1989 Cherokee 4X4 4.0 6cyl.

thanks guys.
 
Where did you buy the new parts?

That metal disk is an oil slinger. Somewhere in the late 90s DaimlerChrysler redesigned the harmonic damper and there's a footnote in the Jeep parts book that says the new style damper replaces the old style, but to remove the oil sliger when using it.

So if you bought Jeep parts, you should be okay not installing it. AFAIK aftermarket harmonic balancers are the old style and should use the slinger.
 
got the new parts from o-riley's.

what can i do about the oil slinger not fitting my new front main seal?

and where can i find a pic of the new harmonic dampner?
 
To add to Eagles post...you might as well change the timing change and gear since it's right there calling your name. Got mine from Napa for about $50.00

Did mine last year. It made a world of performance difference...that and new fuel injectors brought back new life to my '89 Cherokee 4X4 4.0 6 cyl. with 192,000 miles.
 
>a "metal retainer" that held on the old front main seal, or at least went on top of it.

Hmm...I could be wrong but there is no retainer holding on the main seal.
 
here is the cover
fm4.jpg


here is the seal and the "metal retainer" or oil slinger
fm2.jpg


here is just the slinger
fm3.jpg


and they're both the same size as well, as shown here
fm1.jpg



i dont have pics of the new balancer right now, but i will in the morning.

i appreciate the help.
 
That doesnt look like the oil slinger to me. It looks more like the old seal housing. Did you have to tap that or pry that out of the timing chain cover to remove it? Or was that behind the timing chain cover? Is that glue attached to it (the bottom picture) or perhaps some old RTV on it? If you had to pry it out or tap it out of the cover, then its the metal housing of the old seal...or whats left of it. I didnt think you could seperate the rubber from the metal like that.

Dave
 
Last edited:
i tapped it out of the timing chain cover to get it out yes. and thats the old front main (or the pieces that are left of it) still attached to the meal thing.

you can seperate it it you get wicked on it.

so i dont need to put it back on since its part of the old seal?
 
garfer03 said:
i tapped it out of the timing chain cover to get it out yes. and thats the old front main (or the pieces that are left of it) still attached to the meal thing.

you can seperate it it you get wicked on it.

so i dont need to put it back on since its part of the old seal?
Click to expand...
Yes, the Oil slinger talked about is a disk like thing that's on the end of the crank shaft.
 
that clears a lot up... i never had one on there to begin with. so now i'm really wondering what the metal retainer circle thingee is that had the front main seal in it.

any problems with me not having one to put back on?
 
Looks like part of the old seal to me. Easy way to tell - when you knocked out the seal was it rubber and metal or just rubber? If just rubber, that is the rest of the seal. Throw it away and put the new seal in the cover. Don't booger it up with your hammer/press or it won't seal.

Spudboy
 
it was like it was designed to go over the front main seal, like it should've been there. almost like a reinforcement for the front main. I've never seen one like that, so i wouldn't know.

I guess for now i'll put the new front main on, install the balancer, and be done with it.
 
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