i bought a 1993 2x4 4 cly toyota pickup about 2 mths ago. after i got it home, i noticed a big bolt laying on the frame under front of engine. turned out to be the crank shaft pulley bolt. i was told the head gasket was just replaced before i bought it. not sure if they would have to remove the pulley to replace head gasket but if they did, they forgot to put the bolt back in. i was driving for a mth without this bolt in, crazy i know. anyway, in the meantime it started leaking oil from what looks like the front crank seal. i have yet to tighten the crank bolt properly, just tightened it untill the engine turns over, got to get something to hold pulley. after all that my question is..... if the crank pulley is not tightened correctly, could this cause my oil leak? i read in places that the back of the pulley is part of where the seal sits.

Yes the front seal rides on the crank pulley. The problem is getting the bolt loose normaly so if you have it loose now replace the seal. It is easy to do and will not take long. The crank pulley might have a groove in it from the seal rubbing on it, this is normal. If it dose not come with the front seal ask the parts guy for a "speedy sleeve". This is a thin round shim that will tap over the pulley for the new seal to ride on. This might sound like it might be hard but IT IS NOT. All told if you spend more than $10 in parts I would be shocked. To tighten, if you have a 5-speed, shift into 5th, lock the parking brake down tight (or better have someone stand on the brake) and give that bolt hell. I think the torq is up around 150+. DO NOT USE LOCKTIGHT!!!!!! You will not be able to get it back off!!!!! Good luck!!!! Hope this helps!

thanks a lot for the info and advise. i think ill give it a go this weekend. ill report back how it went for others who might be thinking about doing this.