[pbeyer2010]

Hey everyone,

A few months ago (~109,000 miles) i found my turbo oil feed line to be leaking in the usual spot so i replaced it along with my water outlet and overflow hose while i was there. I also had an issue with my TBPS so i replaced the whole intake manifold with new throttle body + fuel rail the hole shebang. To address some very minor seepage, i also replaced the two cam seals. problemo solved.

Fast forward to today (112,000 miles) i still have had some very faint oil burning smells (with no noticeable loss in volume) so i decided to put some dye in my oil to trace the source of the leak. The only place i have found any residue, after about 300 miles of driving, is in the area immediately around the crankshaft pulley leading me to believe this could be the culprit. This being said, i have not found too much on replacing the seal. Ordered it today for $10 on amazon. I found 1 video on youtube of a guy with a sonic and it appears you do not need a puller to get the pulley off. Anyone run through this routine yet and have some lessons learned ?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[carbon02]

I just looked this up in Chiltons online.

Removal of the passenger wheel liner

Locking the serpentine tensioner, remove belt from crank pulley. Does not mention press fit, but does mention press the new balancer into position. I'm guessing the bolt at 110 ft/lbs provides the force, vs. a true old school press fit with no bolt.

The harmonic balancer can accidentally be installed 180 degrees out of sync. It looks like the harmonic balancer drives the oil pump shaft, and you have to turn the harmonic balancer to line up the engine Top Dead Center marks.

Then it has a special tool for holding the balancer. Remove the Torque to yield bolt, 111 ft/lbs..

The seal installer is EN-960, but I'm guessing you could find something that works.

Align the hole in the pulley with the TDC mark as shown in the picture.

I think the statement below will make sense once you have the tensioner off and are reinstalling everything.
The crankshaft balancer flange must fit to the hexagon of the oil pump rotor (2) and to the two-flat of the crankshaft (1). The TDC markings on crankshaft balancer and engine front cover must match.

Install the crankshaft balancer carefully by pressing into position.

 

[pbeyer2010]

Thanks Carbon,


Does it happen to say anything about not reusing the factory bolt ?


Thanks,
Phil

 

[cruze01]

If its a torque to yield bolt you can not reuse it. I have learned this the hard way!

 

[carbon02]

Phil-

Yes it says use new. However, I bet it's one of those bolts that while they want you to use new, you'll have a hard time finding it, as I don't think a lot of techs are replacing them.

Nearly every bolt on the Cruze is torque to yield based on the procedures. I also think the procedure said 110 ft/lb Torque then an additional 60 degrees. I don't have access right now to confirm that.

I understand why they use Torque to yield to get higher tightening force with smaller bolts, this saves weight and cost throughout the entire car. I understand the manual saying replace them. But I've seen this topic discussed on HumbleMechanic's youtube channel. Probably for the first replacement you might be ok, but repeated removal and re installation might wear the bolt.

I'm about to do brake rotors in the front. Has anyone actually replaced the caliper bracket bolts? They are torque to yield. The car is 5 years old, and these bolts are finally available through Raybestos. what happened to people that had brake work done back when the 2011's were < 3 years old? Were new bolts used?

I understand the crankshaft is not a place where I'd want a bolt to break. If I could get a new one I would, on the other hand I'm guessing others have removed and reinstalled this pulley without a new bolt.

The question might be how to hold the pulley while turning with a torque wrench. There are holes in the pulley that the manual is using something like a spanner wrench to hold the pulley while tightening and removing.

There are also a few crankshaft access plugs that appear to be on the front side of the timing cover. These are used to insert GM specific tools for holding the crank at TDC while doing some timing chain work.

I'm assuming your leak is not coming from there. These metal plugs seem to have o-rings on them, per the GM parts pictures.

 

[pbeyer2010]

All good info. This Saturday i am going to remove the tub lining to get a better look and make certain that the leak is coming from the seal before moving forward. Looking from below it appeared most likely to be the crank seal but 10% of me has not ruled out oil pan gasket either....

As far as TTY goes, i am with you on the brake caliper bolts. I reuse them till they break most of the time..My wifes jeep is notorious for this.

 

[stormcruze]

FYI, I did replace the TTY bracket bolts on my 2013 2LT when I did a brake job on the front. My honest opinion is the new bolts were a waste of money. Unless bolts were very much corroded from the weather I would use some locktight and reuse at least once.

 

[a2chris]

I just looked this up in Chiltons online.

Removal of the passenger wheel liner

Locking the serpentine tensioner, remove belt from crank pulley. Does not mention press fit, but does mention press the new balancer into position. I'm guessing the bolt at 110 ft/lbs provides the force, vs. a true old school press fit with no bolt.

The harmonic balancer can accidentally be installed 180 degrees out of sync. It looks like the harmonic balancer drives the oil pump shaft, and you have to turn the harmonic balancer to line up the engine Top Dead Center marks.

Then it has a special tool for holding the balancer. Remove the Torque to yield bolt, 111 ft/lbs..

The seal installer is EN-960, but I'm guessing you could find something that works.

Align the hole in the pulley with the TDC mark as shown in the picture.

I think the statement below will make sense once you have the tensioner off and are reinstalling everything.
The crankshaft balancer flange must fit to the hexagon of the oil pump rotor (2) and to the two-flat of the crankshaft (1). The TDC markings on crankshaft balancer and engine front cover must match.

Install the crankshaft balancer carefully by pressing into position. View attachment 229322

I have swapped my balancer numerous times and replaced the seal once but may do it again soon and thought I would chime in.
I did not remove the wheel liner. There is no press-fit, just a ginormous bolt.

Also note that the stock seal is a lip design that requires a slight vacuum on in the crankcase to not leak. If you have PCV issues that prevent crankcase vacuum or god-forbid introduce pressure, the front crank seal will leak. The rear seal is a standard spring-loaded seal that does not require vacuum. (would probably not be very good for the clutch).
The new seal that I got from the dealer was the same as original but the ones from O'Riellys are standard spring loaded.

Depending on what Air-filter intake you have, you may not have to remove it but might want to anyway to make things easier.

1. Set the parking brake first. This is especially needed for step 4.
2. Put a jack on the oil pan to support the engine and remove the passenger side engine mount.
3. Remove the bracket for the mount from the engine that is covering the water pump. This makes the rest of the job MUCH easier.
4. Release the tensioner (eTorx socket) and remove or set aside the belt. If it is a manual trans car, make sure it is in 6th gear so the engine does not rotate. An automatic will require the special crank pin tool or some other method to lock the crank.
5. Remove the Crank pulley bolt - this requires an eTorx socket and breaker bar.
6. Make note of the timing hole so you do not reinstall 180degree off. Maybe even take a picture first.
7. pulley should just slide right out.
8. The seal is a light press-in style and can be removed with flat-blade screwdriver.
9. The new seal can be tapped in with a plastic mallet or a hammer and a piece of wood to protect it from damage. To make it even easier, do the job while the engine is hot and store the new seal in the freezer. Then work quickly to intall the seal before it can warm up.
10. Put a little oil on the new seal.
11. reinstall the balancer making sure the alignment hole is in the same orientation from step 6. It will just slide on to the crank but the Hex oil pump drive will have slidden down and will require the balancer to be rocked in a circular motion to get it to slide back up.
12. Install new or re-use crank bolt. The crank bolt is huge and I would be surprised if it is actually torque to yield. Something that big would be extremely hard to stretch but use your own discretion here. I re-used mine every time.
13. re-install belt if it is still good or replace since you already have it off. You do not want a belt to fail - the engine will overheat almost immediately. Cheap insurance.
14. Reverse bracket and mount removal procedure. use jack to help with alignment.
15. Remove jack.
16. Re-install intake if removed.

This is my first write up and I may edit to add more info/socket sizes/pics

Let me know if I missed anything.

Good luck.

 

[carbon02]

According to youtube video's, the crank bolt is E-Torx size E-18. Someone mentioned he spent a lot of time trying to get it free with a socket that is close in size, but wasted a lot of time, and then had to buy the E-18.

I suspect loosening the bolt could be done with an impact to prevent the crank from turning, as shown in the video's. However, I'm not sure how you would hold the crank to torque it down. A spanner wrench with pins to go through the pulley might work in holding it.

A2Chris-

I know the serpentine belt runs around the engine mount, and to remove this belt completely requires removal of the engine mount. Couldn't you just release the tensioner, and remove the belt off the lower crank pulley and leave it somewhat attached and still have access to remove the crank from the wheel well? Just wondering what the interference points are.

If the belt needs to be replaced I can definitely see going this way, but if the belt is good, it would be nice not having to support the engine and remove the motor mount.

 

[a2chris]

According to youtube video's, the crank bolt is E-Torx size E-18. Someone mentioned he spent a lot of time trying to get it free with a socket that is close in size, but wasted a lot of time, and then had to buy the E-18.

I suspect loosening the bolt could be done with an impact to prevent the crank from turning, as shown in the video's. However, I'm not sure how you would hold the crank to torque it down. A spanner wrench with pins to go through the pulley might work in holding it.

A2Chris-

I know the serpentine belt runs around the engine mount, and to remove this belt completely requires removal of the engine mount. Couldn't you just release the tensioner, and remove the belt off the lower crank pulley and leave it somewhat attached and still have access to remove the crank from the wheel well? Just wondering what the interference points are.

If the belt needs to be replaced I can definitely see going this way, but if the belt is good, it would be nice not having to support the engine and remove the motor mount.

In my opinion, it is easier to work on that area from the top than from the wheel well and you would need a jack either way. The mount takes only about 5 minutes to remove if not corroded. Removing it also gives more room for swinging a breaker bar and ratchet including when trying to release the tensioner.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Moved thread to the Powertrain\1.4 section. Only tutorials belong in the DIY section, not questions asking for tutorials.

 

[GRAMAZ]

Working on replacing my seal today, and I do not have an impact wrench. When I go to remove the pulley, every time I use the E14 socket (18 was way too large) breaker bar, the pulley rotates. Is this a problem? I've notated where the hole was on the pulley so that when I reinstall, I align it correctly. I am just worried about putting too much torque on the pulley when removing the bolt. I have tried holding the pulley in place while removing the bolt but that has not proven to be easy.

 

[carbon02]

Your going to need a strap wrench to hold the pulley, or other ways to hold the pulley if your trying to break this free with hand tools. I haven't done it, so I'm only giving idea's. A pulley wrench with two pins on it to potentially go in the slots of the pulley would also potentially work.

 

[Thebigzeus]

It's very tight, I had to pump my air compressor up to 100PSI and hit it with an impact wrench for a good 3 seconds before it broke loose. Unsure if you could even get it off and hold the pulley still without using that method.

 

[illian1978]

You can use a long flat head screwdriver inserted through the slots on the pulley if you don’t have an impact wrench. I used an 18 inch breaker bar with a cheater pipe, and it came off easily. You can use the screwdriver in the same manner to torque the new bolt on as well.

 

[GRAMAZ]

You can use a long flat head screwdriver inserted through the slots on the pulley if you don’t have an impact wrench. I used an 18 inch breaker bar with a cheater pipe, and it came off easily. You can use the screwdriver in the same manner to torque the new bolt on as well.

I will try this soon, the squeaking is beginning to get on my nerves haha.

 

[Blasirl]

I will try this soon, the squeaking is beginning to get on my nerves haha.

This is usually a symptom of a malfunctioning intake PCV valve. If you have not already checked, read this:
2011-2016 Cruze 1.4 PCV Valve Cover/Intake Manifold Issues

 

[GRAMAZ]

This is usually a symptom of a malfunctioning intake PCV valve. If you have not already checked, read this:
2011-2016 Cruze 1.4 PCV Valve Cover/Intake Manifold Issues

Thanks, but I've taken care of all that and it's 100% the crankshaft seal, confirmed via stethoscope. The PCV fix kit is a godsend though, that fixed every other issue I had.

 

[Thebigzeus]

Thanks, but I've taken care of all that and it's 100% the crankshaft seal, confirmed via stethoscope. The PCV fix kit is a godsend though, that fixed every other issue I had.

Mine squealed and needed replaced even after the PCV fix kit too. Kind of weird.