Rear main seal kicking my butt

I just got a 90 MJ last night from another forum member. It needs a new rear main seal.

So today I tore into it in hopes of getting it done in a few hours. Well it just wasn't meant to be. I got the oil pan off the engine fairly quickly, but can't get it out from under the engine....it's hitting the pump, axle, and/or bellhousing. I figure, OK, I'll just push it forward and continue on. So I take the rear main cap off, and then try to simply "push" the upper half of the rear main seal out. Well lets just say that it won't come out (probably why the PO mentioned that he'd only changed the lower half). So I figure I'll just suck it up and take the engine out. So I get to pulling stuff apart, labeling as I go. It takes awhile.

Finally I think I'm ready, just have to unbolt the tranny right? Well I can't get the stupid thing unbolted. I know there are two upper bolts that I can't see. Then the other thing is they're a weird bolt (reverse Torx type head...so I have to go buy some new sockets)

Now, I've worked on newer camaro/transams where its a similar situation, but I wasn't expecting this in a jeep.

I called a buddy who works on tranny's and he said they usually drop the tail down to get access to the upper bolts. So that's is where I'm at now, just need the right socket.

So what should have been about a 3 hr job has turned into a 9 hr job for today and probably another 10 hrs to finish it up. I'm probably going to have to unbolt all of the main caps and partially pull the crank out to get this stupid seal out.

I did learn one thing though....it's a lot easier to work on lifted jeeps than it is stock ones....cause this turd is stock, and my ZJ with 6" lift is easy in comparison.

I would have tried to unbolt the axle from the control arms to drop it further and take the pan out before trying to remove the engine entirely. They are external (E12) torx bolts btw.

You should have tried the bottle jack upside down on the axle and unibody....I hear that works with great success for lowing the axle enough to squeeze the oil pan out.

hah, Yea, the first time I did it it was a heck of a pain. The easiest way I've found to do it is to drop the axle. While you're at it, you may consider re-doing any suspension work you had planned. The other option, is before you put the vehicle up on the jacks, grind out about 1/4-1/2 of metal from the top of the lower axle arms (where the arms attach to the axle, you will notice an unverted U shaped metal bracket that's welded onto the axle). This will have the benefit of giving you a tad more travel.

The other thing about this, I don't know about your mechanical proficiency, but when i had to do this it took me 3 tries to get the oil pan sealed up successfully (it's still not 100%) so I suggest either replacing the arms (with ones that will deliver more travel) or grinding the mounts. Since it will make it easier the next time you need to pull the pan and get it resealed. Also, as long as you have the bottom of the pan off, check out the oil pump and the seal.

Best of luck!

Actually all you have to do to get the oil pan out of a stock xj is to lift the front off the grond, disconnect the sway bar, upper shock bolts/mounts, and upper control arms...then let it down gently until you have enough room to get the pan out. It is do-able, yet tough. More like a puzzle than anything else...I think I ended up pulling mine out from the front of the rig....

Have fun.

I pulled my oil pan by lifting the front bumper with a high lift untill the front tires ALMOST came off the ground. that thing came right out. it like to hang up on the dust cover to the bell housing too.

I did the same thing as mountain... highlift on the front then onto jack stands. left the axle about a foot off the ground... only disconnected the steering stabilizer. dropped the pan slightly, pushed forward some then down and back towards bellhouse. could not get the dust sheild off the flywheel but was still able to clear

When you go to put it back together....FelPro makes a one piece molded oil pan gasket that is the bomb!!! Clean all traces of oil from the engine block flanges....apply a bit of adhesive to the block to hold the gasket in place till you get the pan back on...I use 3M spray glue....a light coat on the gasket, let it tack up and stick it in place....

You can drop the crossmember to get access to the upper bolts. If you dont have an E12 you can use a 12pt 3/8" socket, it fits as well.

Try loosening all the bearing caps for the crank, then get a decent hammer and drift close to the size of the metal ring inside the rear main seal. Tap it out, might be tough to crack it loose but it will go.

thanks for the advice guys....I'll get the stupid thing out one way or the other.

Thanks for the help guys. I managed to get the seal out with the engine still in the truck. I got some long punches and then loosened all of the main caps and was able to hammer/pull it out.

I had to disconnect the swaybar and shocks to get the axle to drop enough to the the oil pan out.

So after I got the new seal in, I started the re-assembly (remember I was in the process of taking out the engine) So I got the torque converter bolted back up, the tranny cross member in, the fan back on, the power steering pump back on, and the belt tightened down.

I stopped at that point cause I didn't have the oil pan gasket yet and its getting late.

So hopefully tommorrow I can put in the oil pan gasket, bolt the engine back in from the motor mounts, reconnect all of the hoses and wires and fire this thing up.