Hello everyone,

Pretty stressed out over the situation so I really hope it isn't what I think. I have an 03 with 158k miles. I just recently installed the SOS Stage 2 Supercharger kit with a 3.2 pulley. Ran the car pretty hard with the belt off before tuning to make sure that I don't have any leaks/crazy surprises. One thing to note is I didn't change the stock hose routing off the valve cover yet, was waiting for my catch can setup but didn't think it would cause issues.

Today was my Dyno day and after a few 9k pulls we noticed a puddle of oil under the car. After looking at everything it looks like it's dripping down the front of the engine and going down the passenger side of the oil pan and spreading from there.

I pulled my supercharger and I don't see any fresh oil above the crank pulley so I can only assume it's coming from the crank seal? I can't find anyone who has had one of these fail? I can start the car and let it idle 30 minutes with no oil leak but If I go for a 9k rip it leaks.

I have vented my valve cover now and I'm afraid I pressurized the block causing a front main failure or something...really hope it's not the case.

Also strange, I lost quite a bit of oil today but it's not low on the dip stick, maybe I overfilled the oil without realizing it during the build.

I know the next step is to remove my crank pulley but sadly the hex heads are stripped on the SOS adapter that bolts into the crank pulley and I can't get it to fit over the steering rack with the adapter attached.

Any suggestions about what could be going on?

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Did you check your VTEC mounting block? Used 2 new fresh OEM gaskets when installing the kit? Oil feed line not leaking on either end? No leaks from the oil drain at the supercharger or the AN adapter at the pan?

Was the crank pulley torqued to the proper value? I'm assuming not tight enough and the seal can potentially leak. Torque it to spec; luckily the front seal is easy to replace if need be.

 

Yes checked all of those places and didn't have any oil, went back out and super torqued the crank pulley and it's still leaking.

Any advice on how to do the front main?

 

You gotta get those stripped bolts outta the sc crank pulley. You are using hex sockets, right? Not an allen wrench.

Maybe try hammering the next larger size hex socket into the bolt. See if you can get it to seat.

 

I have the pulley off now, confirmed I have oil leaking out of the front main but have no idea if I need to remove the chain cover to install it?

 

Nope. (Don’t need the special tool either)

 

Awesome, have a new gasket ready to go in! Any tips for getting this old one out? It's really in there and I'm nervous of scratching the surface..

 

I'd just use a pick tool and jam it into the gasket face and pry sideways and up at the same time, working your way around every 90* and ease it out. Basically you're trashing the seal in order to preserve the mating surfaces of the crank and block. Other people thread self tappers into the seal a couple turns and use those to pull on with pliers. Just don't thread them in all the way. I wouldn't be too worried about it; just look up a rear main removal DIY and use the same procedure. I don't think the front seal is a very common failure, but at higher mileage anything can happen.....Just replace it with OEM, torque the pulleys back down to spec and you should be gold.