results of front crankseal job 123 300td
 

i asked for advice on 11/11/9 on how to remove a stubborn spacer ring and got a few responses.. i had tried prying, pliers, and heat with no luck. ridgerunner had recommended grinding and splitting the spacer ring so i gave it a shot. i stuffed the cavity with rags, ground the spacer with a cone shaped diamond bit on a dremel tool, and was able to split it with a blunt punch. it then wiggled off with pliers. thanks. next job on the old wagon is going to be replacing the inner axle shaft boots with the stretchy style boots.

I just removed mine recently. I also tried the prying with 2 screwdrivers, pliers and heat.
None of these worked for me and I think the heat thing is the riskiest of these 3 because of the close proximity of the plastic chain tensioner for the oil pump. One could easily damage that if too much flame got to it.

I also read the grinding advise thing, but there was no way I was going to grind on that ring because of the stone and metal grit that could get into the engine. Even with rags stuffed in there I don't like the chances. Does not take much grit to score bearings and other critical engine parts.

I was prepared to buy the $184 dollar tool if I had to.

My ring was " hanging on for dear life" . I got it off by removing that upper aluminum piece . I was then able to get a decent angle to gently tap a very small screwdriver type chisel between the seal ring and the crank and that moved it easily. It still would not slide so I used prying with screwdrivers and a power steering pully puller to get it off the rest of the way.

Working on mechanical things would get boring without a little challenge now and then.

Sorry, must have missed your first post. I had the same problem when taking off the spacer ring in my wagon. The solution was a little heat, I hit the ring with a torch while gripping it with a pliers. It came off pretty darn quick this way.

I made puller that will get behind it to loan out if need be. You need about 1/8" behind the ring.