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found my "real" oil leak!!!!

sidriptide

sidriptide

nobody of any consequence
Location
western massachusetts
it turns out my distributor wasnt leaking as much as i thought......... it appears to be the rear main seal...
here's the $64000 question...
does the rear main seal actually hold pressure?? now that i think of it i really don't know..
and do i need to pull the transmission to fix it? how much is the stealership going to want for the job?
mike
 
Does not hold pressure. Just resists all that oil being thrown and squirted around in the bottom of the engine.

On the 4.0L it is not necessary to remove the tranny. Drop the pan, remove #7 main bearing cap, and use a small length of brass or bronze (not steel) rod to drive the upper hafl of the old seal out. Some people use a "gizmo" like the Chinese finger torture thing to pull the new upper half through, others loosen all mains slightly to make clearance and just push the new upper in while slowly turning the crank to help draw it in.
 
Think I recall reading on here that Fel Pro makes a 2 lip seal for the 4.0 engine. Usually there is a groove worn into the crank, the 2 lip seal allows the second lip to run on "new" surface.
 
its a real "fun" job , lots of bolts to undo drop the pan undo main 7 when i did it i losend the other bearing caps so there was more room to tap out and in the top part of the seal. oh ya it is easier the take off the two bolts that hold on the oil pick up tube. I got a quote from a mechanic for this job it was 650 CND. I had to do it twice to get it though. So be prepared to learn the first time and then master it the second.
Fletch
 
Lisle tools makes a 'cheater' , it has a soft coated wire with a threaded tip on one end and a pull ring on the other. Thread into the old seal and pull it out, stick the tool back in over the top of the crank and thread on the new seal, pull it thru. I think even with the tool you are better off loosening the mains a bit. Remember to retorque the mains when reassembling. I assume you know you don't use a torque wrench to loosen bolts ?? only tighten.
One other thing, oil does not leak UP, if you have a bunch of oil near the distributor it's not from the rear main. The classic valve cover leak does a better job of impersonating a rear main seal leak then the rear main does :D
 
Mike,

Be DAYUM careful when pulling and replacing your pan.....they say it takes 2 times to master it? It took me 7 times to get the pan back on without leaking. All was due to the facts that the pan had never been off, it had around 175,000 miles on it and i used a BFH to get it off instead of using finess during removal. Be gentle with the pan and itll seal a lot better and it lines back up straight and without gaps.;)

Mike


*EDIT* After rereading Fletchs post i just realized that 2 times Canadian translates into 7 times US:D
 
the distributor was leaking... at first it seemed to be the source of the leak... th evalve cover is not leaking, i did that last month.. i will watch it and maybe some mud/road grime will collect in the area near the dust sheild and it wont leak so much.. it had a good mud/dirt batch today..
thanks guys
mike
 
distributor gets oily from RM seal?

I am living that - could not understand why the distributor was oily at the block boss, plus all the drips at the dust shield.

So I changed the pan gasket.

Still leaks, now at the front, too.

I think it's the front seal - the harmonic balancer I replaced from the salvage yard had a groove in it. If oil is spinning off the back of the balancer it can blow back at speed, hit the distributor boss, and also the sump, then the dust shield.

I also have oil crawling up the front of the block, now. I did replace the valve cover gasket. It's tight. So I think it's the front seal.

I bought the FelPro kit #TCS 45458 which has a balancer sleeve and all gaskets. The sleeve alone is more $ from others.

Just gotta honey do her van first. :angel:
 
well ya know backdraft when your working out in the lane behind da ol igloo in the middle of january on your back you don't want to get it wrong too many times ;). Good thing is :rolleyes: i just noticed it leaking back there again.grrrrrrrrrr so uh maybe I didn't master it EH not sure if its the RM or the pan gasket thats going it. maybe its the valve cover. or maybe its just the milage(see sig). all the oil seals are new. (valve,pan(one piece),RM,filter adapter) jez who knows right now i couldn't care less.

if it ain't leakin' ya ain't wheeln' hard enough (or you don't own a Jeep)
 
Ya know, after reading that, I dont think working under the jeep in 110F heat sounds too bad. But that does suck that its leaking again. I tend to leave mine leaking. It keeps the chassis lubed up very good:D

Mike
 
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