what is the process for changing the rear main seal. i thought you had to change it from either the tranny or jacking the motor up but in this thread he shows steps of the water pump and timing chain and rear main seal and list it in his supplies, so im not really sure.

 

sorry;
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...er-pump-2.html

 

Get a haynes manual. Trans does not need to be dropped. Basically, you remove the starter, remove the inspection plate, remove the oil pan, remove the oil pump (replace or clean), barely loosen the 3 crank journals toward the rear, and completley remove the rear main journal, remove old seal, put in new seal. Then the install is the reverse of taking everything apart.

 

remove the rear main cap and loosen the third and fourth main caps. remove the seal from the rear main cap and rear main saddle. tighten caps to spec and reinstall oil pump and oil pan

 

well thats good to know, a while back a shop told me about $400 because he would either remove the tranny or disconnect the tranny and jack the motor up so he was obviously just trying to rip me off.. i have oil that collects and drips right at the bell housing and that cover plate so im assuming its the rear main..sound right?

 

That sure sounds like a rear main seal. You haven't changed your plenum recently have you? I have seen people who have recently removed the intake manifold, don't put the gasket on the rear of the block correctly, and oil can leak out behind the manifold near the distributor. Might want to check around there with a flash light first. But, my rear main was leaking, easy fix though.

 

yep. pretty easy to change since its a 2 piece seal that slips around the crank. you might want to replace the oil pump since you have to remove the old one anyway.

here's some good pics.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-31.html

i didn't have to lift engine or drop Y pipe. haynes manual is wrong.
i did have to remove the stupid starter to get the cover plate off.
you'll need a torque wrench capable of 85?? pounds to retorque mains.
loosen the mains enough for the old seal to slide out easily, otherwise the new one won't slide in.
pay attention to the shape of the seal. don't put it in backwards.