Replacing front and rear crank seals.

[steppler]

Hi,
I'm pretty sure I have a 3rd gen Prelude. It's a '90 Si with the 2.05L (B21A) engine. Anyway my question is do you need to pull the engine to change the seals?
Any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

Larry

[spiffyguido]

Yes, you have a third gen.

Which seals are you referring to?

[spiffyguido]

Whoops. Just read the subject line of your post.

You should be able to change the crank seals without pulling the engine, although doing it with the engine out of the car might be a little bit easier. You may have to remove some parts to get enough room to work with the seals if you leave the engine in the car. You'll for sure have to pull the transmission out, and you'll have to drop the oil pan and remove the main pulley wheel.

Are both crank seals leaking?

[steppler]

Well for sure the front or pulley side crank seal is definitely leaking and there's a good amount of oil on the rear side too.
This car has been sitting idle (I run it once a month to keep lubricated) for almost a year but when my son was using it as a daily commuter it would leak oil about a quart every 2 to 3 weeks. FYI, the car only has 118,000 miles on it and the head was recondition about 2 years ago when I replaced the blown head gasket.
Now that I'm thinking about as I write maybe it would be wise to clean up the engine with a degreaser so I can get a better idea where for sure the leak is coming from. Sure would save a lot of time and effort if it's just one side?

[spiffyguido]

One side is going to be easier than two. I think cleaning the engine would be a fantastic idea.

[steppler]

Does anyone know if you have to remove the oil pump to remove the front crank seal? There's isn't a lip or any tab to place the prying tool so I can remove the seal!

[spiffyguido]

I believe the oil seal is integrated into the oil pump itself, is it not? The seal sits next to the flat sided cog that drives the oil pump. I can't recall whether you have to take the pump off to get it out, or whether you can take the seal out with the pump in the engine.

Removing the pump is 6 bolts if my memory serves me correctly. Plus, the oil pan and pickup have to have been dropped, but I assume you've done this already.

[steppler]

Yup, that's correct. The seal is integrated into the oil pump and I think the best way to remove the old seal is to just remove the pump. Also, I think I found another leak coming from the power steering high pressure hose! I'm pretty sure that's where all the oil has been coming from at the rear end of the engine. BTW, those hoses are cheap! I might be taking a run to the junk yard maybe if I can't find a good price. Are there any good web sites that have reasonable prices on either new or used Prelude parts?

[spiffyguido]

I generally suggest that people visit www.hondaautomotiveparts.com. They've got great prices on OEM parts.