Rear Main Seal

Kevin,

Bob (aka kaamacat) did this proceedure a while back, his post is back on page 3 under the topic "Rear Main Seal - Upper "dimple"?". I've been waiting for he or somebody else to chime in, but I didn't want to leave you hanging thinking we're ignoring you!

George

Thanks George!

One last try. Anyone?

Kevin,

I've never replaced a rear main seal this way (on my back) but here's my mental picture.

Jack the car up, drain the oil & do the usual stuff involved in removing the oil pan (removal of crossmember & parking brake assembly). remove the #5 cap. Support the rear of the block with a section of 2x4 & a floor jack, loosen the other 4 caps about 1/2 turn on each cap bolt. The crank should drop enough to make it easier to remove the upper half of the seal. Using a punch you'll knock the seal half that remains in the #5 bearing saddle out as much as possible, grab it with a pair of vise grips & yank it the rest of the way out. There may be a small pin in the seal groove of the #5 cap. pull the pin & seal it's hole with a dab of RTV. Clean the grooves in the cap & saddle as much as possible, for instance fish a small piece of solvent soaked rag through the groove in the saddle. Lightly oil the lip & then slip 1/2 of the new seal in the saddle groove, leave about 1/4" of it hanging below the block on one side. Install the other half of the new seal in the cap, leave a corresponding amount of that seal hanging out past the cap on the opposite side. Lightly oil the lip of that seal too. Make sure the ends of the seals where the upper & lower halfs will mate are dry, no oil. Put a dab of RTV on the seal ends, put a dab of oil on the #5 bearing shell thats in the cap. Install the #5 cap. Remove your block support & put a bit of upward pressure on the ZF with a floor jack, hand tighten the cap bolts, retorque the cap bolts.

Do the usual stuff to re-install the pan. Don't forget fresh oil. Rock n Roll.

Okay, you guys who have done this, how did I do?

Kevin, I'll be pulling my motor & trans this winter to perform some maintenance, replacing that seal is on my "to do" list, but I'll be doing it on the engine stand, not in the car.

Your friend on the DTBB, George

Thank you so much George for taking the time to spell this out for us. I should have access to a lift, so that should make this job go a bit easier.

To anyone else thinking of tackling the rear main seal with the engine in the car, here's a link to a 351C Mustang owner who details this job.

http://www.fordforums.com/showthread.php?mode=hybrid&t=85302

Kevin

Great George, only one add ! In the autoparts store on the RED RACK they make a kit to do it without dropping the crank. I have done it but its not easy. Your way may be better but have to be real careful those top half of the bearings dont drop out.
R

Just as an update........So far what I did prevoiusly seems to have worked great.

quote:

Originally posted by kaamacat:
Just as an update........So far what I did prevoiusly seems to have worked great.

Excellent. Thanks for the update!