Rear Main Seal Install
Do I need to cut both sides, or can I take it off one side? Any techniques suggestions?
Yep...take a little off easy side very slowly. You don’t want to melt the rubber. You want to take as close to an equal amount off each side because the seal isn’t perfectly round out of the box. That’s so when it gets crushed when the cap is bolted on it will be round.
That’s why having too much crush is a bad thing...it forces the seal out of round when you put the cap on and it leaks.
If you get too little crush it will leak. So just sneak up on it. Make sure once you fit a half to the cap or block don’t switch the, as the cap may not be the same as the block.
I use a 1 inch belt sander to get my seals to size. Go slow, keep some water handy to cool it off and don’t melt the rubber or polymer or whatever they are made of.
Also take care to keep the ends square. This stuff doesn’t need to be perfect, but the more square you can keep it the better.
It’s actually easier than it sounds. So .010-.015 on each end proud and do the both halves and you’ll be golden.
