fixing leaking rear main seal

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bad440

bad440

everything,all the time..
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well i am taking the darts pan off because the main seal leaks.i have the milodon standard 7 quart pan. does anyone know if you can pull it off in car or should i just yank the engine out?
 
I'm sure you have to pull the steering arms out of the way plus jack the engine up quite aways to gain enough room to get the pan off.
 
what Jeff said... If you got some miles on the engine this would be the perfect time to put an oil pump on it too.
 
Clean the block and rear main cap surfaces with brake parts cleaner and fresh paper towels and then apply a very thin film of RTV sealer between the block and main cap. If you don't it will leak and you won't be happy. A very thin film of oil on the seal lip is needed to so it doesn't burn up upon start up. If you do it right it won't leak a drop.
 
my engine is brand new.the main seal leaks because i failed to use enough sealer on it and it sat in the car waiting for all of the stuff i needed actually wanted not needed in everyones eyes.... anyway i think it stuck and moved on fireup.it leaves a little puddle when shut off and they will never let you race it at sonoma or sac leaking plus i dont want to be the dumbass that made everyone wait for cleanup .no one likes that guy
 
Are you sure it's the rear main leaking? An idle leak (leak when it's sitting) generally isn't the rear main. The rear main usually only leaks when the engine is running. Idle leaks are generally either the pan, valve covers leaking down the back of the engine, or the oil filter adapter leaking.

Anything is possible but I doubt it stuck to the crank enough to cause it to spin when started cause the area of contact on the crank is very small in comparison to the area of contact to the block and cap.
 
maybe it didnt stick but at idle it drips a tiny drip every couple minutes.when you shut it off it will i think basically leaks the drainback from the top. not enough silicone between the main cap and block i bet we will see tommorrow.i build stuff for people all the time (usually ford or chev) and always seal the hell out of them.must have been slipping....will post what i find if i'm a dumbass or not.lol
 
bad440 said:
maybe it didnt stick but at idle it drips a tiny drip every couple minutes.when you shut it off it will i think basically leaks the drainback from the top. not enough silicone between the main cap and block i bet we will see tommorrow.i build stuff for people all the time (usually ford or chev) and always seal the hell out of them.must have been slipping....will post what i find if i'm a dumbass or not.lol
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You really don't need more (or want more) than a light skim coat of silicone unless the block and main cap are all pitted up. A light skim coat on the seal ends where they meet each other is beneficial too. For yrs. I never did that and had a few seep a little. Since I learned that trick I haven't had one leak. JMHO
 
Dropping the center link helps tremendously when pulling the pan.
When you put the new seal in, don't line it up with the parting lines on the main cap. Rotate it about 1/4" then use a very light coat of silicone on the ends and bolt everything back up.
 
got the car in the air ,pulled the starter,inspection cover,there is no oil on the flexplate or converter or behind it.the starter has a small pool of oil on top of it.View attachment main seal repair 029.jpg

View attachment main seal repair 031.jpg

View attachment main seal repair 030.jpg

View attachment main seal repair 033.jpgmy wife was messing aroun snapping photos. all the pan bolts are out so tommorrow i will get it out .fishy thanks for giving me more incentive to not just rip the seal out,will post monday.results.getting tags tommorrow and sac. here i come!i guess we will have a gear change 1/4mile improvment thread 3.23s now (the only damn thing that is not right for my combo) to 4.10s asap never was going to race it with 323s but what the hell maybe we all will learn somthing
 
There you are in your short sleeves, workin' on your car outside, rubbin' our faces in it! :thebirdm: 13 degrees out right now at my house, wind chill -4. I should have my head examined! :angry2: Why in the world do I live here! :dontknow: Snow on the ground, more on the way.......:sad2:
 
moper said:
Ask for a creeper for Valentine's Day :)
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have you ever run over your hair while reaching for a tool.you get stuck my dad used to laugh at that ****.i have one moper ,its still got hair around the wheels.and dont tell me to get a haircut,my wife will never allow it.she takes pride in my 3 foot braid .lol
 
found a trail coming down from valvecover,drivers side.going to button it back up and see what happens.sheesh wasted time again!
 
cool pis! makes me want to go out and take something apart on my car! (oh yea snow)
 
Not exactly the right thing to do but I once built a little tray out of gas welding rod and attached it to the inspection hole bolts. Put a super absorbent diaper in the tray every month. Worked good until I found a better reason to pull the motor.
 
...Another trick. to find the origin of a leak, clean & dry the area really good. (Oil eater is THE BEST. Get it at Auto Zone or ?) Get a squeeze container of baby powder and 'puff' a bunch of powder all over the area in question. Run the engine and look for a dark spot. When you're done, just flush the powder off.
 
Years ago I had what I thought was a rear main leak in a 340 engine. I pulled the pan, replaced the seal, put it all back together, it still leaked. I took it apart again, pulled the transmission and found the plug at the back of the cam was leaking. It never leaked again after I fixed it.
 
i checked the cam plug,the oil pressure gauge line,theres no oil on the flexplate or converter.but its hard to see new oil trailing down a clean engine i think new valvecover gaskets sealed real good.guess i'l set the valves again first,then seal up the covers.
 
Yeah, I've run over hair, lit my clothes on fire, got stuck on air tools, even nanaged to wedge myself under a car once... I like cardboard too, but my back can't handle it any more... Not for long anyway...lol
 
I still laugh at a bud; bearing down on a 1/2" drill, hair caught, drill like welded to his head. We had to cut off his hair to free the drill.
 
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