Cranks seals marathon ezgo 3pg question

[silver59]

Need some help: I suspect my crank seals are going on my 1991 ezgo marathon. When I spray carb cleaner near the seals the engine rmps increase. The cart still runs and gets me from point a-b. What should I do. Is there a point at which the seals completely fail and the cart is junk? What is the cost of crank seal replacement at a cart shop?

Thanks in advance

[CP241]

You need to replace them now before they cause bigger problems.

They let in extra air, which causes the motor to run lean. This can/will wreck the top end and can burn holes in the piston requiring a top end rebuild (few hundred bucks plus labor).

If they blow out completely, the motor wont run at all. It's still a $20 fix as long as nothing else bad happened before they blew out.

The seals themselves are around $20 to replace. I do my own work so I have no idea what a shop would charge, but depending on how difficult the flywheel is to remove it could be a couple hour job or a 10 hour job. I replaced the crank seals on my 3pg in about an hour and a half start to finish. But my flywheel came off no problem. Some people.report the flywheel is nearly impossible to remove, I guess it depends how rusted onto the crankshaft it is.

[mikeasis]

whats this flywheel look like and why is it so hard to remove? generally a harmonic balancer puller cranked down then smacked with a hammer a time or 2 will get them to come right off.

Also when doing this kind of work a piston stop tool is worth very handy

[silver59]

Am I correct in my diagnosis of bad crank seal? I’ve read up on replacement and doing it myself worries me not sure I have the ability to tackle such a task.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by mikeasis

whats this flywheel look like and why is it so hard to remove? generally a harmonic balancer puller cranked down then smacked with a hammer a time or 2 will get them to come right off.

Also when doing this kind of work a piston stop tool is worth very handy

It doesnt look like anything special. I used a harmonic balancer puller and it came off with a 14mm wrench. I didnt even need an impact... other guys that have had problems can chime in but I've read more horror stories about it than I can count lol. I've only done the 1 and it came right off in seconds, no fight at all.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by silver59

Am I correct in my diagnosis of bad crank seal? I’ve read up on replacement and doing it myself worries me not sure I have the ability to tackle such a task.

Yes if the RPM changes when you spray down there, its leaking and needs to be changed. You could do the clutch side without pulling the motor. Flywheel side youd probably want/need to remove the motor but I cannot confirm personally.

[silver59]

Originally Posted by CP241

Yes if the RPM changes when you spray down there, its leaking and needs to be changed. You could do the clutch side without pulling the motor. Flywheel side youd probably want/need to remove the motor but I cannot confirm personally.

When you replaced yours did you take the engine out?

[CP241]

I did, yes. But pulling the motor was easy. Pull the mufflers disconnect the carb and 2 belts. Then 4 bolts and the motor was out. Took maybe 10-15 minutes.

[kantuckian]

Good INfo

[75Harley]

You will need to pull the engine out. I made a puller but I have since bought a real puller that works better. I used a 1 1/4 pvc pipe to tap the new seals in and it worked pretty good. I also checked the pulsar was I was in there because I went with the HEI conversion later on.