[MB968]

From the parts that came in my front engine reseal kit, it looks like I need to remove the housing at the front of each balance shaft as it comes with the o-ring that seals the housing to the block. And, it looks like it will be easier to do the whole reseal if the if the housing in removed. So I assume it is typical to remove the housing. Is there anything I need to be concerned about with the balance shaft when I remove the housing? Or any other tips I need to know since this is my first time in this area.



Doesn't look like there is a writeup for this.

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[vliegwielolaf1234]

Just make sure you mark everything , and put it back the same place , so you don't end up with vibration issue's .

Make sure you get alle the seals in nice and straight .

DO NOT FORGET THE TINY ONE WICH GOES INBETWEEN BALANCESHAFT AND BALANCESHATSLEEVE .

If you want to do it right , if there is a wear groove on the balanceshaftsleeve replace , or put in the seal so it does no run into the old groove .

Replacing is the safe best way to go .

Make sure you oil the o-ring before you put housing back on , an as indicated in workshopmanual and use a torque wrench and loctite .

Removing the housing makes it easy to instal the seal , use a plastic hammer to tap it loose , most of the time they are kind of stuck on there .

Clean the front before you take the shafthousing of , the balanche shaft is only hanging in the rear bearring so be gentle and do no put force on them , while they are hanging out there .

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[MB968]

Thanks for the tips. The front of my engine was a mess. I took it outside yesterday and power washed it with a Purple Power cleaner solution which worked pretty well. As best I can tell, it was only the crank seal that was leaking as the area behind the balance shaft sprockets was dry when I took the sprockets off. I do have new balance shaft sleeves so I will be replacing them along with everything else.

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[Scott Collins]

You'll want to replace 4 items minimum for each balance shaft



1. Front oil seal

2. Race

3. O-ring

4. Seal- clear plastic that slides over the shaft.



I'll clarify with PET part #'s ASAP.



Scott

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[MB968]

Yep, those are the parts that I have to replace. Just about finished with the upper shaft. It looked less complicated than the bottom one so I tackled it first. Toughest part was to install the race (139-02 spacer sleeve). It is a "plug fit" as far as I can tell, making it difficult to start. Any misalignment causes it to bind. I first took a jewelers file and hit the sharp edges of the woodruff keyway to insure no burrs were standing proud. Then I cleaned the keyway area really well, and lubed the OD of the shaft. I reinstalled the bolt (without the washer) back in the end of the bal. shaft, held the bal. shaft with a pliers in the middle of its fore/aft travel, and after getting the race started, tapped it gently around the outside with a 1# babbit. Once it was on half way, it then slid on easily.



Just found an old piece of black plastic pipe that is the correct OD for the front seal, so I'm off to the garage to install the seal.

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[Cloud9...68]

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, I replaced my outer balance shaft wiper seals and the thin clear plastic seals five years ago when I did my first belt job. However, like your engine, nothing was leaking from these areas, so this is as far as I went. With my recent engine rebuild, this part of the engine (pretty much the only part!) still wasn't leaking, so I decided to leave the whole front balance shaft assemblies alone, as I heard it was a very big and pretty difficult job to replace them, and I was afraid I would do more harm than good. If your engine isn't leaking from this area, you might want to consider leaving it alone, or possibly just changing the seals that are easily accessible. But I don't want to discourage you from doing a full disassembly/re-seal; just sharing what I did. Best of luck either way.



Edit: Never mind! I see you're already well down the road with this job. Good for you - now the community has one more person who knows how to do this job!

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[MB968]

Problem with mine is that there was so much oil and grime on the whole area under the covers, that I can't be 100% positive that the bal shafts weren't at least weeping oil. They appeared dry, but car's been sitting since last fall. Just wasn't worth the risk. And, as it turns out, taking the front bearing housings off and replacing the 4 parts listed above is a fairly straightforward procedure.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='MB968' timestamp='1335732465' post='126230']

And, as it turns out, taking the front bearing housings off and replacing the 4 parts listed above is a fairly straightforward procedure.

[/quote]

That's good to know. Did you happen to take any pictures of the procedure? If you have time (always the hurdle for me...), maybe you could write it up as a DIY.

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[MB968]

I didn't take pictures, cell phone isn't worth it, and wife took digital to Seattle for weekend.

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