When I bought my Disco at 75,000 miles the crank seal leaked pretty bad. I had a shop change it for $140. Now at 122,00 miles it is leaking again. Is this a hard job to do or should I have the shop do it again? Does it take any special tools? 47,000 miles is not a long life for a crank seal. Is this a common problem with land rover?

Thank you,
Willie

 

My '97 front seal leaks to Willie, I actually spread RTV sealant around it and it stopped the leak. Cost me about $5 for the tube of gasket maker, thought it was worth a shot and it has held up for 20k so far.

 

You may have some irregular wear on the crank surface that has warn the seal out again, I would let a mechanic do the repair and inspect for other crank issues.

 

If you can have it done for that same price, it's for you to decide if it's worth your time and trouble.

 

What does this job entail, I need to replace mine as well. I have access to virtually every tool for any seal you can think of, just no manual to go by.

 

Do you have a Rave CD, if not get one, it will walk you thru this process, shouldn't do it if you don't have the manual included in the CD.

 

They were out of stock last time I checked, couple days ago. Im going to check again Monday to see if they have any.

 

I have the factory land rover service manuel, its about 4 inches thick. Is the rave cd the same thing but on a cd or is it different material? My manual shows 2 special tools for changing the crank seal, A balancer puller and a seal puller. I think I'll let the shop do it.



Willie

 

I have a pretty bad leak and not a lot of time right now to fix it as I am a full time student and work part time and have kids and have some pretty crazy family stuff going on anyways do I need to try and clean around the seal before trying some RTV.

 

I'd stick with a genuine front crank seal vs aftermarket from my experience. Easy job really, run the D2 and pull the fuel pump relay, remove the fan belt, then use a long bar with a socket, and hold it under the right side frame member and place it on the bolt holding on the harmonic balancer. Then bump over the starter and it should break free.

Then remove the harmonic balancer pulley, and you'll be looking right at the front crank seal. Use a seal puller, "lightly coat the new seal with some RTV on the back side (enough to make it barely tacky) then put a little grease on the inner part of the seal, install it, and re-install the harmonic balancer pulley, bolt, fan belt, and fuel pump relay.