sahtt

I searched and found some info. but have a couple additional questions. I am selling my car and a buyer wanted his mech to check it out. He found-

a) crank oil seal leak
b) noise caused by distributor bearing going bad


The car has 108k miles.
a) As far as I can tell, the crank seal is basically removing the tranny, pulling the seal, making sure the crank is smooth, and pushing the new seal back in. This requires removing the crank bolt and taking off the TB, otherwise that's about it [relatively speaking].

b) Can this noise [didn't make noise 20k miles ago, within the last 3-5 became audible] be relieved by replacing the cap or do I need an entire new distributor?

I apologize on my ignorance, this is the first fwd and distributed vehicle I've owned. I bought it for business travel and figured by 108k it wouldn't have any serious issues. I currently run Mobil 1 10-30 fully syn, should I move to a heavier weight until I get this oil leak taken care of? If I keep refilling it what will eventually happen?

I know the crank seal will be difficult as I've never even removed a fwd transmission. Do you think with basic tools and the couple special tools i'll be ok or how much would it cost me? I've done semi-advanced work often on the 300zx twin turbo VG motor which is said to be one of the hardest to work on. The mechanic at the shop listed it as 700.00 for the oil leak, and the dist. issue as 250.

Thanks, looks like my ls400 isn't the only one getting some new oil seals...

Elvis1977

I don't think you have you seperate transmission to replace crank seal. Yes 108k miles is too early to replace seal unless you have been overfilling the crankcase with too much oil. When you do a timing belt package at the dealership I think they replace all seals and belts. Hope this helps.

sahtt

I'm getting it done by a mechanic who's doing it as a side job. He's charging 150 labor for the crank seal, and 175 if I want to do the water pump and cam seals. Very reasonable IMO for an easy 4.5 to 5 hour job.

He also mentioned that if the seal is not replaced during the TB job, it is very common to go bad which surprised me but I'll take his word for it.