Crankshaft Seal Confusion
 

I have a 1990 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the 3.8 LN3 3800 Motor. My crankshaft seal is leaking oil and I am confused which seal to use. I have replaced the seal once before because it was leaking and I used a Timken 710162 Seal, which needed to be pounded into the timing cover with a socket. That fixed the oil leak for a short time and now it is leaking again. I went and bought an AC Delco 12582313 Seal. I heard that the AC Delco seal apparently does a better job sealing, but it looks different compared to the Timken seal. It looks like the AC Delco seal doesn't have the outer rim that the Timken seal does.

Can someone shed some light on this?
Did I buy the wrong seal?

Thank You,

Matt

I would attempt exchange with the retailer you got it from.

Looking at part numbers on RockAuto has me believing the ACDelco Unit is a 2 piece unit, the rubber (which you have) and then the white sleeve (white plastic?).

Every iteration of the part number I search looks like the part you pictured on the right, and I haven't found anything that looks like what you have pictured.

Also, brief scan indicates that the same seal is used on all 3800 iterations, from LN3, to series 3, plus also possibly LG3 (pre LN3) and 3300 engines.

I found this listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-P...ss!88011!US!-1

I guess this is where the picture is borrowed from. Did you actually order this or have the part in hand yet?

Their pictured unit is not consistent with anyone elses photo, so either the unit they grabbed for pics has a problem, or they have much bigger issues to sort through.

The plastic white sleeve pops right off, I think it is just on there to keep the seal from getting miss formed until it is time for installation. Yes I have the AC Delco Seal in hand.

This one has me stumped. When you click on the Part Number of the Timken and AC Delco on RockAuto it shows that both seals fit similar model vehicles. This is strange.

I get similar results when I search the AC Delco part number.

Hopefully someone can chime in that has more experience with this.

I tend to ignore leaks as much as I can...

Have you checked for grooving in the shaft of the balancer?

What did the original seal look like?