Thread: 300tdi camshaft and crankshaft front ( inner and outer) oil seal questions

Use a rattle gun to undo the centre bolt of the cam pulley. Hold the pulley with one hand. It has a dowel so will only go back on one way. You can do a final tension once the belt is back on.
Lube the seals before sending them home as the rubber can get torn on installation.
There is also the oring on the inside of the crack pulley.
The outer seal for the crank is really a dust seal, so replace it if you have one. There are 2 types but are not interchangeable.
The steel sleeved ones are not as common.

Done timing belt this weekend.

Crank seal and o ring
Front cover crank seal

Had the cam seal but forgot to slacken the nut on the pulley whilst belt was on, so left it (not leaking).

I prised the crank seal out with a big screwdriver and hammered the new one in with a hub nut socket and mallet. Cleaned up the surfaces leaving thin film of oil, close to dry. Went in no drama. Genuine seals.

Front cover seal is even easier, should replace on every belt change imo.

Andy, I wouldn't bother with the cam seal (unless it's leaking)

The cam is only spinning at half crank speed anyway, and FWIW I did my last Tdi timing belt at 310,000km and had never touched the cam seal.

Originally Posted by jboot51

There is also the oring on the inside of the crack pulley.

Thanks jboot51,I wasn't aware of that o-ring.

Originally Posted by rick130

Andy, I wouldn't bother with the cam seal (unless it's leaking)

The cam is only spinning at half crank speed anyway, and FWIW I did my last Tdi timing belt at 310,000km and had never touched the cam seal.

Thanks Rick,this engine has done 345k and the last timing change was done in 2012, km's unknown at that point - but i'm fairly sure cam seal is not leaking now - the oil in the case does look to have originated from the crank seal.

Originally Posted by rick130

Andy, I wouldn't bother with the cam seal (unless it's leaking)

The cam is only spinning at half crank speed anyway, and FWIW I did my last Tdi timing belt at 310,000km and had never touched the cam seal.

I did that once, and within 5K the dry cam seal was spewing oil all over the new belt.

If you haven't remembered to loosen the cam bolt, just fit up the belt temporarily, crack the cam bolt and replace the seal, they are cheaper than belts.

When changing the O ring, which crank pulley do you have ?

The OE one has spot welded 'ears', the best one is the Bearmach style, which is one piece.
The OE ones have a habit of dropping the ears, which isn't good....

Also, what tension are you using on the tensioner ?

There is a revised spec issued in a TSB, the one listed in the manual is a little too high.

Originally Posted by bee utey

I did that once, and within 5K the dry cam seal was spewing oil all over the new belt.

If you haven't remembered to loosen the cam bolt, just fit up the belt temporarily, crack the cam bolt and replace the seal, they are cheaper than belts.

Fair enough, a bit like when I changed a clutch at 220,000, I replaced the input and output shaft seals on the R380 too as I reckoned they'd probably let go within 10,000km.