1990 Jeep Cherokee Laredo 196,000 miles on it
Oil pan and rear main seal as far as i can tell have never been changed which led to one PITA removal of the pan. The top half of the rear main seal is stuck in the block and in trying to remove it by using a nail punch both sides have been mushed up into the hole. I definitely left scratches on the camshaft and on the block around the holes for the top part of the rear main seal.

What issues am i going to be running into now?

 

have some one turn the crankshaft by the nut in the harmonic balancer while you push the seal out with small flat head screw driver so you pushing on more area ,and quit scraching the crank

 

actually had a friend of mine try that, seal still wouldn't budge.

obviously i want to quit scratching the crank i was just wondering what problems i'm going to have now that i have scratched the crank

 

It will ruin the seal, if it's in the middle it might not leak, make sure if there is any nicks to remove any high spots that could be sharp with a fine file, go lite though. Wipe downward to remove any debris. It's too late but always use a punch that's softer metal than crank like brass. Good luck hopefully the nicks are in the middle where the seal's lips don't rub.

 

thank you hookedonxjs appreciate the help, i'll be loosening up the camshaft the get the seal out and then file down my mistakes following up with rtv if needed for the lips

 

Just for future reference (not rubbing in your mistake), I ground down a 3/8" brass rod to fit closely in the slot (so the punch wouldn't just go into the seal). It took several good whacks but I was able to move it around enough to grab it with some lineman pliers and pull it the rest of the way out.

 

Brass, wood, plastic, anything but a steel punch. The crankshaft journals need to have a super fine finish because the rubber seal contacts the spinning crank. Any nicks or scratches where the seal contacts will quickly destroy the seal. Lets hope where you left scratches is an area the seal does not contact. If they are in the contact area there is nothing that will fix it except having the crank reground.

 

You're going to loosen all of the main caps? Make sure, you're pushing on the metal portion of the seal if you aren't already.

You're supposed to use RTV on the lips of the caps. Just none on the CRANK() shaft.