Crankshaft oil seal

[Fred Munro]

Ah, another luckless soul bitten by the crankshaft seal.

The seal on my '91 200q was glued in. I tried the hook puller and the
drywall screws, which destroyed the seal while leaving it firmly embedded
in the housing. I ended up cutting it out oh so carefully with a needle
file, being very careful not to nick the crank or the housing. Once I had
cut through the outer metal casing, I peeled it out. It took me almost as
long to remove the seal as it did to do the rest of the t-belt job.
The factory tool has a large threaded section which grabs the seal lip. If
you crank it in far enough, it will compress the seal lip against the
seal's metal outer flange. Another bolt bears against the crank nose and
pulls the entire assembly out.
The local tech says some of the seals are glued in and the factory puller
won't remove those.

Good luck, Kneale. You're at the point of no return now, just be careful
with the destructive extraction method you chose not to damage the crank or
the housing. It WILL come out if you persevere!

HTH

Fred Munro
'94 S4


-----Original Message-----
From:	Kneale Brownson [SMTP:knotnook at traverse.com]
Sent:	Thursday, July 11, 2002 4:18 PM
To:	quattro at audifans.com
Subject:	Crankshaft oil seal

--
I'm unable to pull the @#$%^&* crankshaft oil seal out of its placement so
I can install the new one and begin the process of completing this PITA
PITA PITA PITA timing belt/water pump replacement in a 4kq.  I've got all
the TB covers nicely sandblasted and repainted and WANT TO FINISH UP THIS
AWFUL process, but I can't get the stupid seal out.  I've used/broken
several pick-type hooks and have the rubbery part of the seal next to the
crank all chewed up, but I can't budge the harder part around the outside
of the seal.

How does  Tool  2086 accomplish this extraction?  Does it have a flat blade
like a small screwdriver and slide in next to the crankshaft so it can pry
outward?  I'm using ViseGrip pliers attached to a hard hook and pulling
really hard and getting no movement.  Can the previous jerk that did this
task have glued the stupid seal in?
--