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Rear main seal

I

islandbum

NAXJA Forum User
Location
cozumel mx
I have 1992 xj automatic that needs the rear main seal replaced.
I can not do it myself. I know it is hard to say exactly how much this should coast, but I would like a general idea of the cost.
Any help would be great. Also how long will a repair like this take?
 
Shop prices vary widely, especially since you're in MX. However, it took my 4 hours to do mine in my 88. Most of it was scraping the old gaskets off and cleaning everything.
 
Probably a couple hundred bucks
 
time, i have. but being our only vehicle... no time to be down.
patience, well since ya put it in those terms.... she's been dripping fluid since we got her 3 years ago. :lol:
skill, i'm a maechanic.... now just to get hired somewhere!!!! (no not ASE certified. those kids don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground!!!)
 
if you are a mechanic of any sort you can do this and do it in an afternoon. Very simple. If you need a how too i can get you a very good one when i get to the house under my favs. i used it and it walked me right thru and it was my first time doing the rear main.
 
When I was at the dealer picking up my RTV (18 bucks..yowza) for the RMS, the mech told me to buy four bolts and hack the heads off, then cut a slot in the tops for a driver. This, he claimed, was to help align the pan gasket during install.

Why cannot I simply buy some dowel rods (see also cheap, easy, and simple) of the same diameter and shove them into the bolt holes, then pull them out when done? Anybody ever do this?
 
rocknxj said:
When I was at the dealer picking up my RTV (18 bucks..yowza) for the RMS, the mech told me to buy four bolts and hack the heads off, then cut a slot in the tops for a driver. This, he claimed, was to help align the pan gasket during install.

Why cannot I simply buy some dowel rods (see also cheap, easy, and simple) of the same diameter and shove them into the bolt holes, then pull them out when done? Anybody ever do this?
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing. I was reading through 5-90's rear main writeup http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101118 because I think I'll be doing this in the near future and he mentioned using 4 Chevy bolts to align the gasket during install. But I would assume you could use dowels and save money?

Btw, make sure you let us know how it goes on Monday and provide some feedback. :D
 
How do you plan to have the dowels stay in the holes while you position the pan?
 
I figure I would remove one bolt tomorrow then head over to a hardware store and match up a dowel rod. Slightly larger rod should stay in place, right? Just a theory.
 
You can zip tie the gasket to the pan, or use rubber bands, or bread ties, no need to cut bolts, or dowels.

Installing a couple studs on each side of the engine helps with pan alignment, once you have the pan and gasket up in place you can hold it with one hand while starting a couple nuts on the studs.

Not rocket science.
 
joe_peters said:
You can zip tie the gasket to the pan, or use rubber bands, or bread ties, no need to cut bolts, or dowels.

Installing a couple studs on each side of the engine helps with pan alignment, once you have the pan and gasket up in place you can hold it with one hand while starting a couple nuts on the studs.

Not rocket science.
Click to expand...

I told the dealer mech about the zip tie trick and he gave me a sideways look, as if either contemplating the maneuver, or thinking I was nuts. I did not care much for the guy anyway since he was trying to tell me how difficult the RMS project was, but I figure he was just drumming for business.
 
Back in the day, when I was young and dumber, I bought a set of pan gasket alignment "Ts"--imagine a "T" split down the middle, that likes to spring apart so that it looks like a "V" with little wings on the top of each side of the "V". Take special gasket tool, push down through the gasket and pan hole, tool keeps gasket in place. With pan up in position, squeeze the "V" together and remove the tool. Pretty neat, right?

Shop foreman walks by, takes one look, and starts laughing his head off. Of course, all ten of the other techs have to come over and take a look. While still laughing he whips a rubberband out of his pocket, dips it through the gasket and pan, pulls one end through the other, and walks away laughing himself sick.

I gave those gasket alignment pins to a Chevy Tech, those guys are dumb as a box of rocks and will use any kind of fancy do-dad.
 
When I had my arm in a sling, I called around for pricing. Dealers wanted $300-$400. The local small shop that everyone raved about only wanted $140. They did a crappy job and it leaked worse afterwards. The dipwad kept claiming it was a plugged up crankcase vent. When I redid the job myself found he chipped the block trying to get the upper half out with a hammer, then apparently decided to only change the lower half, and then didn't bother tightening the oil pan bolts. The first and last time I ever paid someone to work on my Jeep.

It is a messy job though.
 
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