Cam And Crank Seals

[ricsvtr]

Hey does anyone know if it is really necessary to change the cam and crank seals when you change the timing belt? I read a few posts on here that suggest its worth doing at the same time however all the workshops i have rang up reckon not to bother replacing them unless theyre leaking. Also one mechanic reckons its a fairly tedious job to replace the seals and quoted me an additional $220 in labour on top of the labour to change the timing belt! Is this true? I have a feeling he is pulling my leg. Should I not bother replacing the seals?

Thanks!

[(B1) MR_fanny]

what are you paying just for timing belt? ringing around prices vary from $450-500 to get timing belt, bearings, seals, water pump, adj cam pulley install. i think the crank seal is abit out of the way from what one person said, everyone else ive called didnt have any dramas about it.

[JonesyGTR]

Hi mate,

When I got my 32R serviced I asked the same question. I bought the cam and crank seals and asked the dealer to put them in. When they were doing all the other stuff the had a look and said that they didnt require changing as they were not leaking and gave me my seals back.

I suggest you do the same, buy the seals and get them put in if you need them. If not you have them for next time!

Hope this helps.....

Cheers,

Dan

[SECURITY]

if you decide not to do the seals then they start leaking, you:

1 - have to pay the labour cost he quoted + more as he'll need to take everything off again.

2 - risk getting oil from the leak onto your timing belt, which means you'll need to replace that too.

$220 now COULD save you hundreds more later on.

[ricsvtr]

Hey thanks for the replies! Ive gotten a quote for $460 to change the timing belt, idler and tensioner, water pump, crank and cam seals (just for labour). Ive been told by a friendly SAU member that the crank seal is hard to get to and apparently you almost always destroy the lower timing gear/pulley in the process. So looks like that one mechanic wasnt pulling my leg! Funny how the other workshops didnt think much of it... Maybe they were gonna just charge me for the labour and not even replace the crank seal...

Edited December 21, 2006 by ricsvtr

[SECURITY]

thats why you keep your receipt and if the bitch leaks you take it back.

the crank seal is a bit of a bitch to get to. im not sure if your oil pump has to come off as i replaced my oil pump with an N1 pump which came with a new seal (which was connected to it).

at least do your cam seals.