I'm replacing the oil pump, crank seal and o-ring and when I removed the balancer bolt there was a seal (see pic) that I haven't seen before, so I checked with Toyota parts dept for a replacement and they don't show a seal in that location ? It looks like it's meant to keep oil from getting out between the crank snout (male) and the balancer snout (female) and coming out at the balancer bolt ? Anybody seen this seal before ? and do you know where I can get one ? If I can't I will probably just do silicone.
Thanks, JT

 

I have never seen any seal but the one that goes in the oil pump.

As there should be no oil coming out there I have no idea why any one would put one there.

About right there with using wire nuts on stranded wire.

 

I have also never seen that seal. I have always just torqued to spec and have never had a leak there. I doubt RTV on the crank bolt would hurt if you are worried about it. That seal could have been dried silicone from the last person who worked on it. I have seen people do those kinds of things more than once.

 

Supernerd - When you say just torqued the crank bolt to spec, is that how you installed the harmonic balancer, or did you use an install tool to get it seated? I'm at that point and having some troubles and really don't care to break anything. Can't find much on installing the balancer so I'll use all the tips I can get.

 

I do not ever remember having any trouble getting it seated. I just put a small amount of oil on it to help it slide and lube the seal. It should slide on by hand, or at least most of the way, then tightening the bolt seems to fully seat it. Sometimes I have had problems taking it off, even after breaking the bolt loose, but not putting it back on.

Make sure the key in the crankshaft is fully seated and not damaged. That would prevent the pulley from being installed easily. If there is any significant rust on the crankshaft or in the balancer, that could also cause difficulty.

 

Everything's been cleaned really well so I'm sure nothing is binding up. Stupid question....but I have to be sure....the splines on the "sleeve" that engage the inside gear of the oil pump face towards the block right?

My worry is coming from the fact that the balancer is very easy to install into the oil pump seal. That doesn't seem right to me seeing as though that is all that keeps oil from puking out into the open air. I would think it would take at least some force to get it seated in there to make a good seal. Oil pump and seal are brand new.

 

It is difficult for me to remember, but I am almost positive the splines actually face away from the block. It should be obvious when you install the oil pump. All you should see is the splines when the timing cover is installed, so basically the oil pump is going to slide onto all of the splines. If it looks like the oil pump will only slide over a portion of the length of the splines then it is the wrong way. If you are not sure, remove the oil pump, take a picture with the oil pump drive gear fully seated on the crankshaft, and post it so we can take a look at it.

The balancer is not to difficult to install over the seal. You will feel some slight resistance when it hits the seal, but nothing major. If the seal is the only problem, it will leak oil, but is easy to fix if it does. I am not sure if this will help you, but the front main seal is not under a lot of pressure. It is just under the pressure of the crankcase, not the full 70 PSI or so from the oil pump.

 

yup.....put it in backwards, quick fix at least. Thanks for the help