Stubborn rear oil seal

[superstator]

I'm having a little trouble getting the rear main oil seals off my 2.25d, and thought I'd check here before I broke something. The bottom half came off no problem along with the main bearing cap after a couple solid whacks with a rubber deadblow hammer, but I can't get the top half to budge. In the green bible it appears that it should move straight up and off after removing the 5 retaining bolts... Shall I continue to try and scare it loose, or is there a trick?

[deezgunz]

perhaps a little bit of heat and some tapping with a hammer? maybe pb blaster, let it sit then tap it with a hammer? in the past i used a delron rod as a punch rather than go metal on metal

[akrvr]

There are locating dowels (I believe). Pry them away. If there is and plastic compound that cracks, replace the bearing retainers. I know this from experience. I pulled the engine twice because the seal leaked after first replacement. Seal retainer was leaking. They are cheap relative to the job.

[superstator]

Yup, a little heat softened the goo that had it glued to the block, and gentle prying got it off the locating dowels. Now that the block is completely stripped, I guess I have no choice but to start thinking about putting it all back together...

[Les Parker]

Best of luck with that, keep us informed.