Just curious to know if there is a way to distinguish the difference between an oil leak at the crank seal vs. oil leak at the oil pan to block..

my friends car has a slight leak from this side of the engine, which drips down the oil pan. The mechanic had the car up on the hoist and we witnessed an oil leak coming from the vicinity of the of the crank seal..

 

just change both. theyre cheap and easy. recommended oem seals and gaskets.

 

to change the oil pump seal..., does the oil pan have to be removed?

 

a crank seal leak is NOT easy if its the rear main, the trans has to be removed which half a job as an engine swap

rear main oil seals tend to drip off the bottom of the transmission when they leak, pan gasket drips off the oil pan

if your referring to the front main seal, i'd recommend doing the oil pan gasket first, and if it still leaks in the same spot, i'd consider looking into changing the front main seal

 

No, but the timing belt does.

 

If the rear main seal was leaking, wouldn't the leak be on the passenger side where the transmission is? I don't believe that its the rear main seal (transmission)

And if it was the rear main seal, would there not be tell tail signs within the transmission housing if this seal was leaking?

 

The oil pump seal should be leaking from a lot higher (like more in the region of the alternator, at least thats where it was leaking on mine. You'll have to remove the timing belt to get the oil pump off (as stated). All this can be done with the engine in in the car, just tight a tight space, easier with an engine hoist, but can be done with a by jacking up the engine.

 

The front crank seal (= the seal on the driver's and timing belt side of the engine) and the oil pump seal are one-in-the-same.

Like 94EG8 said, you have to remove the timing belt to get to it. You do not have to remove the oil pan or the oil pump to get to the front crank seal.

 

I too was puzzled by the OP's question.

 

do you have to remove the oil pan to replace the oil pump seal?

 

Nope.

 

There are 2 different seals. I believe the OP is trying to figure if replacing both at once would save them the hassle of replacing the wrong one. Once you remove the oil pump, and right crank cover, there is a seal on the flywheel side of the right crank cover assembly. If that seal were leaking oil would flow from the pump into the oil pan(think check valve), loosing oil pressure. If you have oil pressure and just an external leak you can just replace the oil pump seal and or oil pump.
IMO replace the oil pump, pump seal, and oil pan gasket. You can get the stuff from honda for like $125