w245 B-class bad crankshaft oil leak

[Exp21]

Hi everyone. My w245 CDI has a strong oil leak from the crankshaft pulley seal. There's a hole to unscrew the bolt, but you should remove the starter to lock the flywheel first. And the black subframe should be lowered to get frontal access. Does anyone know if it's possible to do the job without lowering the subframe? I mean the pulley can be kept still using a belt around it, and once unscrewed you can remove it from underneath for example. Does anyone know this job in detail? Thank you

 

[alexanderfoti]

No, you must drop the subframe, as the bolt hits the side of the car.
Just drop the whole thing out of the bottom, its not too horrible and is the only way to do a lot of things on this car:

 

[Exp21]

Great pictures thank you! I just found an easy way, that is keeping the car and engine still, and lowering a little only the right side of the black subframe just to be able to extract the crankshaft pulley bolt. You can remove the belt, pulleys, alternator, AC compressor and the oil sump (that has the engine mount support attached to it). In this way you can reach by hand the crank seal and replace it. Anyway now that I see it's too much for me using only ramps and jacks. Thank you for help

 

[Exp21]

Once they lower the engine and remove the crank seal, is it in your opinion a good idea to replace the oil cooler gasket and water pump? Car has only 100k miles but I'd like to avoid another big job like this in a few miles Thank you

 

[alexanderfoti]

Yes, we did all the pulleys etc at the same time. Makes sense when the biggest bit is labour.

 

[Exp21]

 

[alexanderfoti]

Looks like a ghost hunter show

 

[Exp21]

I think it's the oil radiator leaking. Do you think I can access it just detaching the rear engine mounts and lowering the engine like you do for belt and pulleys?

- I have some doubts. Is it enough to replace only the gasket? Or do I have to replace the entire radiator?
- If it leaks oil externally, it means that I could have oil in water or viceversa?
- Do I have to drain oil from the oil pan before doing the job? Thank you for help

 

[Exp21]

Looks like a ghost hunter show

I replaced my high pressure diesel pump 30k miles ago and it leaks again. I think I have 4-5k pounds of repairs to do :-(

 

[alexanderfoti]

I think it's the oil radiator leaking. Do you think I can access it just detaching the rear engine mounts and lowering the engine like you do for belt and pulleys?

- I have some doubts. Is it enough to replace only the gasket? Or do I have to replace the entire radiator?
- If it leaks oil externally, it means that I could have oil in water or viceversa?
- Do I have to drain oil from the oil pan before doing the job? Thank you for help

Not 100% sure, but there is probably enough space if you drop it far enough.
No, they don't usually mix internally, but I would change the oil after changing the cooler.
No, you do not need to drain the engine oil before hand.

 

[Exp21]

Thank you very much. So I must replace the cooler? Or only the gasket? I suppose I must not drain water before? Thanks again

 

[Exp21]

The hard part here is being able to understand if oil comes from the crankshaft seal and it arrived till the oil cooler (belt spraying it all over) or it came down from the oil cooler down to the crank seal and the pan

 

[alexanderfoti]

The one in our picture was leaking from the crankshaft seal

 

[Exp21]

I have no way to understand where it comes from. The only way is repairing the crankshaft seal and also the cooler Thanks again

 

[Exp21]

For those interested in doing the crankshaft seal, in this youtube video there's a trick to extract the harmonic balancer bolt. You have to detach:

- steering rack from subframe
- right ball joint nut
- right subframe bolts
- right sway bar link

Good luck

 

[Exp21]

Hi, when inserting the new seal, you know the correct depth of installation because you arrive at a dead end pressing it? Does WIS recommend any lubricant on the outer or internal face? Thank you

 

[Exp21]

Hi everyone. I bought a new oil seal, genuine MB one. I didn't trust aftermarket ones, being a 10+ hours job. Now I'm investigating if it requires oil when installing it, on the inner lips. I made some research and I found that PTFE seals must be installed totally dry. But this seal is of FE/FKM as you can see in picture. FKM is a different material. But FE/FKM is the same as PTFE? Can anyone help me? I read that lube on PTFE seals destroys them, so I'm worried about this detail. Thank you

 

[EmilysDad]

I would lube any lip seal .... it's going to get what ever oil at the back of the lip when in use anyway. Just be careful when you slip the seal over the end of the shaft that you don't invert the lip

 

[Exp21]

Hi, thank you. On victor-reinz website and also an Audi technician told me that PTFE seals must be installed dry. It seems mandatory or it will be damaged. The question is if FKM/FE is the same or not. In the doubt I'll lube with engine oil I think

 

[EmilysDad]

..... In the doubt I'll lube with engine oil I think

That's what I'd use