hey all, so starting to develop an annoying leak, I have narrowed it down to what appears to be the rear main seal....not stoked. Now it looks like It has an access panel on the bell housing so I got a little pumped that I might not have to rip the whole thing apart to replace a 20 dollar part... I was gonna do the oil pan seal while I was at it. Has anyone ever tackled such a project and if they did do they have any advice. Im guessing with my skillset this is a multi weekend project. Should I put a stop leak and switch to a heavier oil in the short term til I can start work on it. Anyhow any advice on the project would be greatly appreciated. And if you can think of anything I may have missed or mis diagnosed. Im losing about half a quart every 2 to 5 hundred miles so its most certainly something I need to get to work on. Im embarrassed I let it get this bad without noticing the problem

Thanks in advance for all the advice and continued help, My van would be in a junkyard if not for this forum. I tried searching this forum to no avail if there are any references I missed Im sorry.

all the best
dave

 

I have had good success using a chemical seal rejuvantor from the local auto parts store. I am not a pro mechanic or anything, but I would rather throw a $10 bill at a problem to see how it works, before opening my wallet for the hundreds it would cost to tear into that rear main seal. A rear main leak that developed on a '97 Toyota Landcruiser that I own, was estimated at $600 to replace. That was a couple of years ago when I was putting in a quart of oil about every 1500 miles. I have put two pint treatments into the engine since then and 18 months and 15,000 miles later, I am down to adding a quart about every 4-5,000 miles. I think and hope this cheap alternative will last me another 6-8 years and 50-60K miles.

 

Okay, I guess it's left up to me to ruin your day. To replace the RMS you have to lift the engine, drain & remove the oil pan, remove the oil pump, then remove the rear main bearing & seal cap.

 

Would all of this also be required to replace the rear main seal on a 94 5.9L 360?
I've got oil accumulating at the transmission bell/flywheel (dust cap?). Am really hoping it'd be as easy as outlined in this jeep forum.

 

Yes it is the same procedure for the 360. The Jeep is a completely different vehicle with a completely different engine and those repair procedures do not apply here.

 

Thanks Alloro.

So lifting the engine is absolutely required, huh? In order to get the oil pan off?

 

I've never seen the pan come completely off without having to lift the engine.

 

Darn.

So from scouring the forum, I've gathered the following (coincidentally, mostly from your posts!)

• Remove dog house/air filter housing/intake
• disconnect the exhaust from the manifolds
• remove the thru-bolt from each engine mount (driver side only?)
• remove upper radiator fan shroud
• remove tranny dust shield
• drain/remove radiator hoses?
• remove/disconnect starter?
• Jack point for engine?
• raise the engine up until you can slip the pan out.

I'm starting to wonder how much it'll need to lift, if I'm gonna have to worry about brake lines, ac lines, etc.

 

Step 1, disconnect the battery.

You shouldn't have to drain the cooling system, the hoses should flex enough. If you need to you can always remove the radiator mounting bolts and lift the radiator slightly instead over over-stretching the hoses.

Removing the starter gives you more access room on that side to be able to reach the pan bolts.

Although it's optional, it helps to disconnect the tranny cooling lines from the radiator and cap all of the ends. This way you can move them away from the pan more easily.

Removing the air horn/throttle body will give you a few extra inches of clearance to raise the engine.

I don't use a jack under the engine, I use an engine hoist up top.

 

Good to see this forum...Aka the Alloro show is still expeditiously helping us out tons. Thanks guys and as always appreciate the help and inputs.