I know this is an old post, but I couldn't help commenting. I'm in the process of replacing the crank seal in my timing cover. I too have the shop manual and and couldn't help but chuckle as I read that line about "sliding" the balancer off.
JCRUZ was certainly right - that's not happening. It brought back memories of my days in computer tech support, where the mantra was that documentation is nice if you have it, but it also can, and will, lie to you.
