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John Deere 690ELC Front Crank seal replacement

ts360

Active Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2022
Messages
34
Location
Pennsylvania
My machine started puking oil out of the front crank seal so Im looking into replacing it. I have the repair manuals for both the whole machine and the engine, but the engine manual shows how to do it with the engine out on a stand. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do it in the machine? Thank you for any advice.
 

mg2361

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
5,144
Location
Pennsylvania
Occupation
Equipment Mechanic
If I recall correctly, just remove the fan guard and fan. You should be able to get to the crank seal from either bending over the top (and getting a nose bleed), or accessing it from underneath.
 

ts360

Active Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2022
Messages
34
Location
Pennsylvania
So I finally got around to tearing into this and I got the old seal out but there is apparently a "wear ring" that the old seal rides on that has to be removed and then replaced after the seal is in to prevent the lips from rolling. Anyone have any tips on removing the wear ring without damaging the crank? It seems like it's going to need to be chiseled off.
 

boone

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
1,047
Location
AL
On my 4045 front crank seal I used a small hand saw. Took slow cautious strokes, stopping often and check for depth until I was able to "tear" the wear ring off. Worked great. I have a picture below of what I used.

 

ts360

Active Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2022
Messages
34
Location
Pennsylvania
That is a good idea, thanks. I tried to cheat the instructions by installing the seal over the old wear ring but it did not go well. The rubber rolled to the outside of the new seal and ruined it.
 

Diesel Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Messages
1,068
Location
Ontario Canada
If your 690E is sn # 559602 or below , the wear sleeve is heavy wall about 1/4 inch thick.
There is not too much of the sleeve to grab through the opening,if your lucky long nose channel locks might get it.
Otherwise the front timing cover has to come off.
 

ts360

Active Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2022
Messages
34
Location
Pennsylvania
I wanted to post what I ended up doing here in case anyone comes across this post with similar questions. I was actually able to replace the seal without removing the wear ring with the advice of a friend. I cut the smooth section out of a plastic bottle and cut down the middle of it so it could overlap on itself to fit the crank and the seal can ride it over the wear ring and then you can just remove the piece of plastic. It worked awesome in my case of course results may vary in different circumstances. Thanks again everyone that posted here for the help, and the info.
 
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