Would replace the seal for same reasons as stated for crank.

When installing the seal try not to apply localized pressure on the seal body which could damage the seal. When first installing seal body take extra care to make sure its going into the hole straight.

Read the info at the link below on seal installation:

http://www.sealing.com/fileadmin/doc...stallation.pdf

Measure the seal body thickness and hole depth to compare and determine how far in the seal can go.

Would not bother to drain out the converter by hand. Once the car is put back together can do a complete fluid change. The procedure uses the transmission oil pump to change the fluid.

Drain and refill the trans pan with new fluid. If you want can change the trans filter screen first if not already done then refill with trans fluid.

Disconnect the fluid output hose from the radiator fluid cooler where it attaches to the trans. Route this hose into a clear or translucent container.

Start engine and watch the fluid come out into the container. When approximately 2 quarts
have come out (and for sure when fluid coming out stops) stop engine. Refill trans with approximately the same amount of fluid that came out.

Repeat this process until clear fluid comes out which is 8-10 quarts.

Once complete do a final and accurate trans refill to correct level. The dipstick may have hot and cold fluid marks. Check fluid engine running in Park. Move gear selector from P to R slowly and back to P. The most accurate check is when the fluid is at operating temperature.

Being a later model V-6 trans the differential and transmission fluid camber should be the same. To verify look around the differential housing area for a drain and fill plug or lack of said plugs.

 

There is a drain plug but no fill plug.

It is frustrating because the seal that I screwed up on was the only one I used the bearing/seal installation kit on. It was going in fine but I must have not kept the plate flush with the face of the seal. The top advance further than the bottom so I used the localized pressure (1/2" extension") to try and even up the bottom with the level of the top

 

Is there a higher success possibility taking the retainer off, installing the crank seal in the retainer, and then installing the combination vs. leaving retainer in place as is and installing the crank seal inside the retainer and around the crank at the same time? Just curious. Crank seals are expensive, i don't want to mess that one up.

 

Not stating the differential seal is doomed to leak. Stating if it does leak, there is a good amount of work to change it. Have had seals with body damage that sealed just fine. The issue here is replacement effort if it leaks.

Examine closely the rubber lip inside the seal! The lip rides against the polished surface of the axle to seal in the fluid. Determine if the lip is damaged, nicked, if its circumference is out of round or distorted etc. Its possible the seal body can be slightly damaged but the lip seal be OK.

The crank seal installation ease would be based on your situation. Most issues are in driving the seal body into the hole. Is it easier and less risky for you to mount the retainer then install the seal or easier if the retainer is off so one can install the seal on a work bench.

If doing the job and having no special tools to assure the seal body will install equally in the hole might install it on the bench into the retainer. This allows using a hard flat surface to 100% cover the seal body (this surface extending out beyond the seal). Then driving the seal with equal force on its circumference until the flat surface hits the retainer to stop installation.

Whatever you do, grease the seal lips before installing seal onto crank.

As stated use a form-a-gasket material between the retainer and block. See link below:

https://www.google.com/search?client...k+Gasket+Maker

 

I think I am going to replace the seal. At this point, I am not totally sure it is the right seal. I put my VIN in toyota parts website and it shows the left axle seal to be part number 9031150029. The SKF seal associated with that number is SKF 20027. Other websites (Rock Auto) show a different SKF part number for a 2001 Camry V6 Automatic as part number 19556. I contacted SKF and they said they have 19556 being the correct seal for my car but they say 20027 is the correct seal for that toyota part number and that part number and seal is associated with the left axle seal for 2003-2010 Camrys. I looked at the specs and they are close but not the same. One is made of HMSA 35 the other Nitrile. They lips apparently are a different style, one is LongLife, I don't remember what the other style was. There doesn;t seem to be any deviation in the lip but when I took some calipers and looked at the measurements of the internal diameter, there might be a very small fraction of difference in the diameter of the damage vs. that of undamaged area. With this in mind and the doubt which exact SKF seal to use, I am going to get a Timkin/National seal and pull the SKF out. Thanks for the gasket maker recommendation. I had picked up Permatex Form-A-Gasket #2 but I will return that and pick up the Ultra Black.

 

Is Loctite Red too much for the crankshaft and torque converter bolts? Never used it before so not sure which one is best, Red or Blue.

 

Is there anything special I need to do to remove the crankshaft rear seal retainer? I took out the six bolts around the outside and the two on the bottom and it doesn't want to budge. I used a big screwdriver to pry on the tab on the bottom of the retainer but it still didn't move with reasonable force. There is sealant oozing (dried around the bottom edges but it looks like maybe too much was used when it was installed. I don't want to take a pry bar to it and break the retainer.

Also do I need to drain the engine oil before I take off the retainer? Don't want a surprise mess...

 

Tried to wedge a really small screw driver under the retainer by tapping on the end of it lightly with a hammer but it didn't move. I'll just have to torque the bolts back down and install the seal on the car.

 

That might be HSMA design and the seal made of nitrile.Loctite red is supposed to be permanent making it more difficult to remove the fastener. Use the blue.

Speculating the retainer is glued to the block by the sealant. Torque bolts to 69 in-lbs.

The oil level in the pan is below the crank seal level.

 

https://www.vsm.skf.com/us/en/products/20027

https://www.vsm.skf.com/ca/en/products/19556

Seal 19556

Article Information

• Outer Diameter: 3.167 in
• Width: 0.433 in
• Bore: 3.159 in
• Boretite: No
• Shaft: 1.9480 in

Seal 20027

• Outer Diameter: 3.163 in
• Width: 0.438 in
• Bore: 3.15 in
• Boretite: No
• Shaft: 1.9690 in

Do you think these seals are interchangeable? I guess the most significant difference would be the shaft right? I assume that is the diameter of the hole.