Front main seal question
 

I plan on replacing the fron main seal this evening. I 've got everything apart except for the fan hub. I guess it's called a fan hub, it is what the fan bolts on to. My question is how to remove it to access the seal? I removed the bolt in the center but the hub wouldn't budge. Do I need to go the flaps and get a gear puller or something?

Also, what's the best way to remove the seal? I figure I'll ask this time instead of going to the school of hard knocks.

TIA,
ShawnO

The hub is in the tapered part of the crank. You can press it off by re-installing the three bolts that hold the fan on and press the hub off. The seal can then be pulled with a "hook type" seal puller.

GS

WARNING! Put something stout where the bolts come through, or you will damage the case where the seal goes!! The "canonical" tool for this is the "church key" can/bottle opener, but any sufficiently stout piece of flat metal will do.

What I did:
I put the fan back on the hub, with at least one of the bolts installed relatively loosely. I poked a long screwdriver through the timing hole and through the fan blades to hold the motor still. Make sure the screwdriver is toward the rear of the fan so it is harder to break off the fan blades! Then I loosened (but did not remove) the fan hub retaining bolt.

I removed the screwdriver and then the fan. I re-installed the fan retaining bolts partway. I took three tough but flat pieces of metal (big "fender washers", actually) and sandwiched the metal part of them between the inner end of the fan bolts and the case. This is to spread the load from the end of the bolts out to more than just a little bit of the case. I made sure all three bolts were just pinching the washer enough to hold it in place. Then I turned each bolt 1/2 turn at a time. After a while, the hub popped off, and the Woodruff key (half-moon key) fell onto the floor, where I had to search for about 5 minutes to find it.

Installation was a lot easier, after I got the hub to slide partway on over the Woodruff key. I loosely re-installed the fan and used the screwdriver to hold it still again, and just kept tightening the fan hub mounting bolt. I tightened it to spec, and the hub was on all the way.

--DD

There is more than one way to skin a cat!
I used three longer bolts and one piece of flat stock. Rotate the hub with a screwdriver between two of them and tighten the bolt against the stock, ~1/2 turn. Back off a hair and rotate the hub to the next one and do it again. Mine came off real easy. Because it is tapered, if you can get it to move at all it will come right off. I like Daves' use of three pieces of flat stock beter than a single. Probably you can better stop the motor from turning from the clutch end, though, rather than use the fan.

Don't forget the O-Ring on the shaft behind the hub!! Most important!!

Karl P

Thanks for the help. This job actually went smooth. I ended up using a universal gear puller (rented free from Autozone) and the hub popped right off. Scared me when it did!

It's funny how these cars are simple to work on yet it seems like one person can do a job in 20 minutes and it takes someone else an hour. Dave had to look for his woodruff key that flew off while mine stayed right on the hub and didn't budge. However I bet Dave's seal pulled right off and I had to wrestle with mine for 15 minutes.

Now to reroute the accelerator cable tube one more time to miss the heater control while the motor's out. Can't wait for this job again:(