i recently started noticing a burning oil smell from underneith by truck. looked under and oil is dripping onto the pipe going into the cat. im pretty sure its a rear main since im not losing any other fluids and it looks like its leaking from in between the block and the bell housing. plus its pushing 250,000 miles. i've never done a rear seal with the engine still in the truck. my question is whether or not its possible with the engine still in and how difficult and time consuming it would be. any input?

 

Can be done, about a two to three hour job, if all goes reasonably well. Need to dig in, and drop the oil pan, pull the oil pump (good time to change it?), and the rear two main caps. Might have to loosen the rest to get enough wiggle room to get things out/in easy.

I did my oil pump in my driveway, with basic hand tools (the first time...). Was actually not that bad of a job.

 

well i have some other stuff i gotta do. timing chain, new intake, maybe new headers. sounds like i'll add that to the to-do list.

about how much is a new oil pump? could i pull one from a junk yard or is it worth it just to buy a new one?

 

easy. you will need torque wrench capable of 85 pounds. if the starter bolts won't break loose, you'll also need a 3/4 drive ratchet and a couple of 6 inch extensions to put some muscle on it.

be SURE and put the seal in correctly, not backwards which is easy to do.

if your oil pressure is on the low side, put in a melling high volume pump while you're there.

http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-31.html

 

Don't put a used pump in, buy a new one. They are under 50 bucks for the high volume pump.

 

i've never replaced an oil pump before. i didnt know they were that cheap. i figured they'd be at least in the $100+ range. i'll definatly be putting a new one in when i do the main and the other repairs.