rear main seal

[singingcamel]

Has anyone replaced their rear main seal with engine in? How big of a hassel is it to work around the cross member..any help would be appreciated..thanks

[greenmeanie]

Hi Mark,
I did it on my 88 and its really not a problem. You have to strip everything off the back of the engine to get at those two seal halves but access to the bearing caps is easy as the rear main sits forward of the cross member. Now if you are just trying to replace the seal itself and not the two semi circular pieces too I think life may get complicated.

[singingcamel]

Thanks my friend , I ve replace rear mains with the engine out but never insitu..
i really hate to jerk the enginie just for the seal. I assume its just the 2 seals but may have to pull the caps as you mention. make life simple I guess. Probably need to loosen all of them just to drop the rear one yeh.

[derek]

I am doing mine right now,I just yanked the engine and am glad that I did. Also replacing the clutch and resurfaced the flywheel.

Anyone got any tips that are not mentioned in the repair manual for making sure it does not leak again?

[gudjeon]

One tip I got from some old timers is to fit seal and put engine ass'y on the floor facing front end up. Put in some oil and see if it piddles on the floor after a few days. It can tell you if its holding, at least initially.

[derek]

Apply Silicone Grease MS4 to the shaft and both sides of the oil seal lip

then

Apply hylomar pl32m sealing compound to the seal diameters of the two retaining plates

Considering how bad these rigs leak oil / 37 years later , is there a better solution out there for the grease and sealing compound?

Thanks for your help,

--Derek