Hi All
I am about to replace timing belt and waterpump on my other Volvo(1994 940 w/198,xxx miles). The cam seal is leaking(yes I am r/r'ing the breather while at it). I have never replaced an oil seal of any kind. I have read the FAQ's and I guess what I am missing is a picture of the "bearing cap" I will be removing in order to get this seal out. Anyone have such a picture or diagram?
I guess I could go to the Pick n pull and take a peek but it is rainy and cold..If no one has them I will take pix and post later.
I have borrowed the volvo seal installer tool and have a new valve cover gasket and rtv, anything else I should aquire? Sounds pretty simple...
Matt

it is none of my business, nevertheless it is not the wisest long run strategy to replace just one seal when all the preliminary work to do 3 is the same as for one. if the others are the same age you are just asking to do the whole job again sooner than you might suspect.

and to boot you will have to dismantle the timing belt and all the sprockets ....again!

i did all three 2 weeks ago on my son in laws 93 sedan. it is a simple job. even the crank seal is not that hard to replace.

if you follows these steps you should not have much trouble.

1. get good elring seals and open the packages and slather them with oil all over and then place them in the freezer over night. the cold will shrink the metal within the seals and allow you a bit more leeway when starting them in, especially the crank seal. the cam seal is dirt simple if that is your only one.

2. buy a good seal puller like this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35556

once you get it the longer thin side of the puller may be a bit to thick to slide in and grab the seal so i suggest you use grinder or such and thin this side down by 30-50% in thickness only. do not alter the shape, only the thickness. try it out before you grind to see if it is to thick. mine was as the crank seals was like glass hard.

3. once the seal is exposed use the seal puller by sliding it in along the camshaft where the seal meets the shaft and then opening up the angle of the seal puller once you have the hook in the meat of the seal.

DO NOT GRAB THE SEAL ALONG THE OUTER EDGE OF THE SEAL AS YOU DO NOT WANT TO RISK SCRATCHING THE JOURNAL IT RIDES IN. SO OPT TO GRAB THE SEAL ONCE THE HOOK IS PRESS IN TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE SEAL SO YOU HAVE SEAL MEAT ON EITHER EDGE OF THE SHARP HOOK END AND LESS CHANCE OF SCRATCHING THE BEARING SURFACES.

4. open the angle of the seal puller just enough to get the seal to unseat on one side so you can pull it out easily with your hands or needle nose. once the seal is unseated it should come out easily

...............

seal out, cleans everything the new seal will ride.......CLEAN

lubricate the area once with oil and be generous

go in a get the seal out of the freezer one seal at a time ONLY when you are actually ready to insert it. it should will cold and oily and will slide onto the cam shaft effortlessly. use your fingers to push it in EVENLY until you can no longer make any headway with just your fingers. then take the OLD SEAL which you should have and NOT have destroyed if you were slow and careful and place the outside edge of the old seal against over the cam shaft up against the outer edge of the new seal mostly seated. find small hammer and small piece of soft wood and tap against the old seal all the way around to seat it the rest of the way in until the new seal is flush or slightly indented into the seal carrier. the tapping is done slowly to ensure the seal is place EVENLY into the carrier.

clean up and go on to the rest of them.

the crank seal will be slightly more difficult because it is way down low and you will have to do some of the work on you back under the car or stretching down from above. it iwll seat a bit tighter in my experince than the other 2.

USE THE OLD SEALS AS A WORKING SURFACE TO PRESS OF TAP IN THE NEW SEAL. THE FIT WILL BE PERFECT FOR EVEN PRESSURE AND YOU RISK NO DAMAGE TO THE NEW SEAL FROM A HARDER MATERIAL IMPACTING THE NEW SEAL

Thanks for the detailed response. Everything you said makes sense. 2 follow up questions. You dont mention removing the removing the valve cover or "bearing cap", can the cam seal be replaced without removing those two items(would be nice)? Second you suggest using the old seal to push in the new, I have the OEM tool, does the old seal work better/easier? Actually here's a third, you recommend putting the new seal in the freezer, wouldnt the smaller resulting diameter make it a tighter fit on the cam? Please dont be offended by my inexperienced questions, just wanna understand. Thanks.

You dont mention removing the removing the valve cover or "bearing cap", can the cam seal be replaced without removing those two items(would be nice)?

you ABSOLUTELY do not need to remove anything other than the pulley.


Second you suggest using the old seal to push in the new, I have the OEM tool, does the old seal work better/easier?


if you have the opem tool by all means use it i do not and have to improvise.

Actually here's a third, you recommend putting the new seal in the freezer, wouldn't the smaller resulting diameter make it a tighter fit on the cam?

do not over think it. trust me it works. the cold seal will be effortless to install on the cam shaft. just make sure you oil thoroughly the seal on all surfaces ANFD the cam shaft and seal carrier. you DO NOT want to start an engine with dry as a bone seal and dry as a bone carrier and cam shaft surface. you will wear the new seal hugely in the first minute of running.