Before you go to the trouble of the front seal, check around the chain tensioner on the right side of the engine, There is an O-ring seal there that dries out and allows oil to leak down the block and looks like a front crank seal leak.

I learned this the hard way with one of my cars - a couple hundred bucks for a front seal replacement that did not resolve the leak. Since then, most of the 130 engines I have worked on have had this leak.

It is an easy fix if you don't have AC, kind of a PITA if you do.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe