Hey Guys i have an 01 ram thats rear main seal is leaking. Whats the best remody without actually replacing it? Also i think the oil leaking is getting on the tranny fuild. Should i just replace the gasket to the pan?

 

The only remedy is to replace the seal.

What do you mean by "Also i think the oil leaking is getting on the tranny fuild"?

 

well nothing. on these truck u take the oil pan off to do the rear main and gettin the pan off is not that bad well atleast on my truck it wasnt but i do have a off-road edition idk if that makes a difference thought

 

When i went to get my oil changed i asled them to replace the tranny fluid. Amd they said it wasnt a good idea because the gasket to the pan under the tranny was bad?

 

Might as well fix that while you're under there, I suppose, and change the transmission filter while the pan's off, too. If you drain the trans before pulling it out to get at the rear main seal, it'll be a bit lighter and easier to maneuver.

Sometimes it's the little things that take the most effort.

 

And the main problem..that the main seal was leaking and that i have to pull apart the whole engine to replace. Whats the risk of not fixing it if i just keep am eye on my oil level?

 

You don't pull the engine apart, you just separate it from the transmission. Depending upon the vehicle and the bother of it, I usually just lift the engine out rather than dropping the transmission. Especially if I'm working alone. It's usually much easier to stab the engine to the trans than the other way around.

The risk of not fixing it? Well, it's going to get progressively worse, and eventually the oil blowing around under the truck is going to start hitting things like the transmission and catalytic converter where it'll smoke and form a helluva cake, maybe catch fire (on the cat). And once you're pouring lots of oil into the thing, you're likely to get to thinking that oil changes are pointless, so the concentration of ash and varnish is going to increase. So your lifters are likely to suffer first because they're most sensitive to both of these contaminants, followed by your crank and cam bearings.

It looks like a hugely daunting task, but changing out the rear main seal isn't scary. It's just time consuming -- if you've never done it before, it'll chew up a whole day. The second time you end up doing it, it'll be about half that.

It's cheap enough, if you're not paying labor. I say go for it!

 

Thank you for all the info! I appreiciate it

 

You're welcome!

 

One last question. Your saying the Ash and varnish will only occur if i do not keep adding oil correct?