I don't know how a seal could possibly do anything the a chunk of cast iron. Any metal on the seal would be softer than the harmonic balancer.

 

Hey Don. Back in my mechanic days (40+ years ago) I have seen that groove rubbed into the harmonic balancer many times. It was usually older high mileage cars, late 60’s, early 70’s American.
Some of those old seals would turn hard as a rock. It would turn the seal rubber into a grinding wheel. Guess it was the type of rubber they used. I seen the old seals just shatter when you removed them.

 

yeap….my car has 218xxx on it. I wouldnt doubt that fine grit gets against seal lip and surface and grinds on it. But it definitely wears a groove after enough miles

 

Update: so about week or 2 ago I replaced the front pulley seal with a GM seal from Rockauto…the surface of the pulley wasnt exceptionally bad…had some groive worn in it but not enough to hang fingernail so I elected to not use the seal saver sleeve…concern was when it wears hole thru that .006 sleeve, it would cut the whole seal lip out. So far the oil is staying in the engine.

 

The GM seal lasts much longer than aftermarket seals.

 

I saw why you said to leave the plastic in the seal putting it in. Depth guage.

 

The vid at #4 is a hack job. There should be a little sealant between the sleeve and the old seal surface or it will just leak there. And smashing the installation tool to smithereens? Really? Not even a piece of wood? Ideally, use a press.

The author is also way off in his analysis of the seal surface in my opinion. Corrosion or axial grooves would call for a sleeve. Mild smooth radial grooving, not so much. That should seal just fine.

My FelPro cover seal came with a CR seal. Some CR seals use “Wave Seal” technology which they invented, but is long off-patent, so maybe everyone does when they want to. Dunno if this seal uses it, but could explain an apparent reputation for leaking. Prolly really just seeping.

In the unlikely event that you want to become a CR seals expert, check out the SKF CR Seals handbook.

I think a “wave seal” should only be used on a pristine new seal surface. Here’s little screen-grab excerpt, to be read with skepicism:

 

Why not just order a new harmonic balancer ? If your old one has a groove worn in it.

 

Indeed.

 

Those thin tin kits don’t last long. Designed for used car lots to seal the deal , cause they don’t care when it’s gonna wear thru and leak oil again!