Front crankshaft seal installation
 

Thought I'd share what I've been working on the past few days with my 1988 323. I knew the seals were leaking. Also saw some coolant coming out the bottom of the timing belt cover, so it was time for a major overhaul. Bought a special tool to remove the center bolt that holds the crankshaft gear in place. Everything else came apart easy enough. Started to panic trying to get the old seal out. Finally got a screwdriver beween the crank and seal and popped out the old leaky seal. The replacement seal went in with some pounding using a wood block and hammer. The picture shows the before and after.

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RE: Front crankshaft seal installation
 

Here's a picture of the front part of the engine put back together with new water pump and timing belt. Also installed a new tensioner, took me awhile to figure out how it was connected up. Rotated the belt several times and everything lines up top dead center on the cam and crank side.

The Mazda workshop manual says to remove the engine mount and alternator. Even made up an engine support bar to hang the engine with the mount removed. Turned out I never had to remove the mount or the alternator, don't know why Mazda says so.

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RE: Front crankshaft seal installation
 

i pinned this to the top so that other people could see this and get useful info.

we always appreciate write-ups here.

I am asking why coolant would be coming from the crank seal? Seriously, I thought there was only oil there....not being anal here, in fact I am seeing the same thing on an '88. A drop of water appears below the crank snout overnight. i am getting the engine cleaned up to locate the the leak. I suspect the pump or bypass/lower hose.

I have not found the leak yet. The pump appears to have many hairline cracks, but may be just the casting

I never wrote that coolant was leaking out of the crank seal. The water pump is directly above the front crankshaft. In my car coolant was leaking out of the lower waterpump bolt, which would then drip down on the crankshaft gear and settle to the bottom of of the whole front end.

The reason why I replaced the front crankshaft seal is because it was leaking oil. Lots of it.

Do you know the exact part number or name for the tool you used to remove the crank bolt and keep the gears in place?

I need to get the block outa my '88 323 gt (4 dr) and need to do it soon..

Thanks for your time and input :)

I'm gonna start a thread about the details and specs on the car and how the engine came to blow, check it out..

I literally just finished this on my 93 323 lol wish I would have took some pictures as for my crank pully it was a two piece i just held a socket on the crank bolt an took the 4 10mm bolts out pully came off the took the cover off the fly wheel an stuck a screw driver off in it to get the crank bolt off not Perfesional by any means but got the job done no leaks after I got finished altho I do recommend changing the water pump while your off in there

Coolant comes out of water pump if it's broken, or the gasket is leaking, and that leak can drop down, make it look like it's coming out of crankshaft!..
As for removing the crankshaft seal, you can use 2 little wood screws, screw them into the outer portion of the crank shaft, and use 2 pliers to pull the seal out. It is not wise to use a screw driver, because that can scratch the shaft, and cause future leak..

Good luck!:)