Harpoon a seal, screw it, then hammer on it!

I got to make a kick ass tool that cost me nothing. I saw a video on removing main oil seals using a slide hammer. I was dubious, but holy crap it worked!

I just welded a screw to the end of a rod, then welded a bearing to the end to act as a stop. Just hammer the screw into the seal like harpooning a whale, give half a turn, and a couple strokes and bang. Came out perfectly clean with no mars or swear words.

Make sure to punch the screw in toward the outside where the metal rim is there for support. The screw will want to move in toward the shaft, so you want to make sure there is room. You want to pierce the washer portion of the seal.

If I had to make it all over again, I would use a skinnier screw.

First, I slapped a jig together to weld it. All the wood was the exact length. Maybe my luck is turning.

Voila. Seal out.

loudhvx wrote: Here's a video where I got the idea. It worked as easily as the video makes it look. Plus there's some awesome 80's soundtrack, and/or Mentos commercial music, in the background!