Rear main seal.... - Diesel Forum

welder79 · 10-31-2006, 03:48 PM

Looks as though the rear main is going out.....there is oil all over the bell housing, exhaust and so on. What's an estimated repair cost on this one?

ltaylor · 10-31-2006, 07:05 PM

if you can do the labor yourself its a cheap fix. i had my tranny in and out in about 3hrs (to replace the torque converter)and its a 4x4. i think the seal is between 20 and 30 bucks. if you have a small slide hammer it will make the job easier when removing the old seal.

cdnsarguy · 10-31-2006, 09:27 PM

Ensure the rear seal "is" the culprit and not the oil sender or valve covers which could be the case........ Oil from above will find its way into the bell housing since it is not sealed at the adapter plate.

GaryBecker · 11-01-2006, 12:26 AM

The pan on mine had a hundred holes, and the sending unit leaked and it all looked like the rear main! I drained the motor oil; wire wheeled the pan, cleaned it off real good with lacquer thinner and then coated it with epoxy. The sending unit and pedestal were removed cleaned and wrapped with plumbers tape before reinstalling. Note that the plumber’s tape may cause a bad ground causing the oil pressure idiot needle to do weird things. Number one you need to get a mechanical oil pressure gage. If you don’t like to have a dead gage on the dash you can wrap a wire tightly around the base of the sending unit and attach the other end to a good ground source. Another place is up where the IP meats the gear tower, is the seals fail or the sealant fails oil runs down on the valley cover and to the back of the engine and down the bell housing and onto the muffler! There are a few other things like back pressure in the crankcase cause by a failed CDR valve / turbo causing too much blow by…

93

cdnsarguy · 11-01-2006, 08:48 AM

[ QUOTE ]
sending unit and pedestal were removed cleaned and wrapped with plumbers tape before reinstalling

[/ QUOTE ]

If you use the liquid Teflon tape sealant, you will have a good seal and a good ground.

welder79 · 11-02-2006, 10:56 AM

What do you mean by oil sender? Do you mean oil pressure sender?
Thanks for the replies.

cdnsarguy · 11-02-2006, 02:28 PM

Yes ...sorry I mean Oil Pressure sender.

adelyser · 11-02-2006, 10:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
if you have a small slide hammer it will make the job easier when removing the old seal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Small slide hammer? I just unbolted the plate from against the back of the engine that holds the oil seal. Hammered out the old seal and pressed in a new seal on my workbench, and bolted the entire plate back in place.