Rear Main Seal

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best if its up about 6 feet in the air for sure....not fun on your back 6 inches above you.
 
Yup. Dad told me he did the one on the 318 aspen wagon we had for a while as a kid. He did it in the garage..no hoist. was so mad when it leaked worse than the leaker it replaced. Attempt 2 worked fine.
 
Based on the responses, and not having a lift, I think I will pay a professional to do it. Thanks everyone.
 
Just so you know. Professional flat rate manual quote is 2.7 hrs for a /6, 4 hrs for a small blk. Anything over 5 is excessive without cause. So if you get a crazy quote, you may decide to do it yourself. good luck . cheers.

EDIT - Be absolutely sure it is the rear main, cuz after doing all the work to find the source is elsewhere is a piss-off. Gravity and the fan blow all the drips to the back of the pan. Clean the begeebeez outta it with brakclean to be very, very sure ! !
 
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inertia said:
Just so you know. Professional flat rate manual quote is 2.7 hrs for a /6, 4 hrs for a small blk. Anything over 5 is excessive without cause. So if you get a crazy quote, you may decide to do it yourself. good luck . cheers.

EDIT - Be absolutely sure it is the rear main, cuz after doing all the work to find the source is elsewhere. Clean the begeebeez outta it with brakclean to be very, very sure ! !
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I've used florescent die to find oil leaks in the past. You can get a cheap kit online with glasses and a light that will help you find the leak. I've found leaking senders, valve covers, and transmission o-rings with it. Just a thought...
 
Aaron65 said:
I've used florescent die to find oil leaks in the past. You can get a cheap kit online with glasses and a light that will help you find the leak. I've found leaking senders, valve covers, and transmission o-rings with it. Just a thought...
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Thanks. I'll look into it.
 
Yes. It is easy once the oil pan is off. That part is not easy, but you don't need a lift. You will probably need to unbolt at least one engine mount and lift the engine about 1" more above the K-frame to get at all the bolts and work the pan out. You also need to disconnect the Pitman arm, which requires a special tool (cheap at Harbor Freight). The rear seal is in an aluminum holder. If any of the tapped holes for the oil pan bolts were stripped (common by gomer mechanics), now is the time to repair the threads (Heli-coil). The rear seal is the same PN as for the Hemi engine! The seal is a 2 semi-circle rubber piece. You can push the upper half around to get it off the crankshaft.

True that most early U.S. engines can have the rear seal changed w/ engine in car. Some had a rope graphite seal, but they make a grabber tool to pull those out and new rubber replacements. My 1985 M-B diesel was designed mean. It has a rope seal, but they put a locking pin in the block so you can't pull it out without lowering the crank a bit. New engines (~1995+) have a 1-piece seal which bolts on the rear of the block, going over the rear crankshaft. You must remove the transmission to replace those.
 
BillGrissom said:
Yes. It is easy once the oil pan is off. That part is not easy, but you don't need a lift. You will probably need to unbolt at least one engine mount and lift the engine about 1" more above the K-frame to get at all the bolts and work the pan out. You also need to disconnect the Pitman arm, which requires a special tool (cheap at Harbor Freight). The rear seal is in an aluminum holder. If any of the tapped holes for the oil pan bolts were stripped (common by gomer mechanics), now is the time to repair the threads (Heli-coil). The rear seal is the same PN as for the Hemi engine! The seal is a 2 semi-circle rubber piece. You can push the upper half around to get it off the crankshaft.

True that most early U.S. engines can have the rear seal changed w/ engine in car. Some had a rope graphite seal, but they make a grabber tool to pull those out and new rubber replacements. My 1985 M-B diesel was designed mean. It has a rope seal, but they put a locking pin in the block so you can't pull it out without lowering the crank a bit. New engines (~1995+) have a 1-piece seal which bolts on the rear of the block, going over the rear crankshaft. You must remove the transmission to replace those.
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If I were 10 yrs younger and had a lift, I would give it a try. I changed my trans pan gasket, with the car on Jack stands. That wasn't fun. Thanks for the info.
 
I changed rods and mains on my back once. Took all day and I was sore the next. It wasnt bad, just had a bunch of crap drip on me from various places. Worst thing about a 6 is the pan bolt access.
 
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