Had a Dodge dealer in Knoxville, TN take a look at the oil leaks on our '96 SOHC ATX Highline while I was moving it from Boston to New Orleans. After having a good laugh at the greasy mess on the underside of my car, they came up with four leaks of which I have fixed the three easy ones. The fourth they listed was the rear main seal [sm=smiley19.gif]. Would appreciate any help or advice on a few questions about this:

1) How best to absolutely confirm that it is the rear main? A trusted mechanic we use says to be suspicious because they rarely see this as a problem on Neons.

2) Haynes manual says engine must be supported from the top to drop the ATX. Are there alternatives for supporting it from the bottom - like a jack under the oil pan?

3) Has anyone that has done this before learned any tricks or have some estimates of the time/effort for dropping and reinstalling the tranny?

Thanks!

 

Yes, you can support the engine from the bottom using a jack, but, be sure to use a piece of wood on the jack to prevent from damaging/denting the pan.

As for time, plan on spending a good portion of the day under the car. It's not something that takes an hour last time I dropped a tranny I spend all day plus part of the night working on my buddy's car.

 

Crazy Squee, Thanks - looked like using a couple floor jacks and jack stands should work. I suspect the instructions to stabilize the engine from the top may have been suggested by the publishers' lawyers.

I was guessing it would take one very long day. Still mulling over whether or not I'll tackle this, take it into the shop, or sell. But would not even consider doing it myself if I had to mess with hauling a hoist home.

 

You're welcome. A couple of floor jacks and jack stands will do you fine. Plan on renting an engine hoist to make the job a little easier as well. It can be used to put the tranny back into the car as well.

And time is dependent on your mechanical skill. If you've got a pretty good mechanical ability and have picked up a wrench plan on it taking a day. If you've never held a wrench before it's going to take quite a bit longer.