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REAR main seal

89cherokeexj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Victorville
HEy guys I have a serious oil leak coming from my rear main seal on my 89 Cherokee LIMITED. I was wondering if anyone knew if it is a 2 peice rear main or not?? How mong does it take to install??? What kind of "work" should I look forward to???
 
if u search around i found a good right up to do it ... just not sure where it is
it was a pain in my opinion ...

and yes its a 2 piece seal
 
I just did this in my 2000. It took a few hours. Had to remove starter and exhaust, and oil pan. I would recommend changing the oil filter adpater o rings as well.

There are many folks in the SOCAL chapter that have done this and would probably be willing to help. The rear main seal is a two piece design - one piece in the block above the crankshaft and the other part goes in the oil pan.

There are probably some write-ups about it and there are a few little tricks.

I tore my first new seal and had to go and get another one from the dealer.

Just buy your parts and oil, then post up a work party in the SOCAL chapter section.

Good luck!
 
It's a 2 piece seal. Buy an extra, because you will most likely mess up the first one trying to get it in. The hardest part in my opinion was getting the oil pan out. Jack the front end up and put stands under the frame to let the suspension drop so you can get the pan out. Probably take 4 hours.
 
Changing the rear main is fairly straight forward. Some of the write ups describe removing the starter and the exhaust crossover pipe. When I changed mine I left them in and only jacked the front of the Jeep to make it easier to slide the oil pan out. After you remove the bearing cap use a small brass punch to get the upper part of the seal started, once it's started you can grab it with some pliers and pull it the rest of the way out. Make sure you use a torque wrench on the cap bolts (80 ft lbs).


Rear Main
 
Since you have an older xj, allow yourself plenty of time. The gasket is like scraping concrete with a toothpick.
 
I just did this on my 87. Front and rear seals along with a timing chain. While you have the pan off, take a look at the rod and main bearings. I did and found a lot of copper showing. Good to find it early than to hear the deathly sound of a rod knock.

Timewise, I did a little each day and it took a week. Thats the life of 60 hour work weeks. Good thing it is not my daily driver.
 
I understood that you had to pull the tranny. I had no idea you could do it by just removing the starter. SO if I read correctly you can only chang out the bottom portion of the seal??? Thanks for all your input it will really help, I guess I better get wrenching cause the oil leak is getting progressively worse. Someone told me about those seals on the oil filter deal, I think I might just change those out also cause I HATE when my Jeep leaks oil..lol

So anyways I will need to buy 2 seals, I do not need to pull the trans?? It will only take around 4 hours?? Any special tools/items I might consider buying before I get into it.
 
89cherokeexj said:
I understood that you had to pull the tranny. I had no idea you could do it by just removing the starter. SO if I read correctly you can only chang out the bottom portion of the seal??? Thanks for all your input it will really help, I guess I better get wrenching cause the oil leak is getting progressively worse. Someone told me about those seals on the oil filter deal, I think I might just change those out also cause I HATE when my Jeep leaks oil..lol

So anyways I will need to buy 2 seals, I do not need to pull the trans?? It will only take around 4 hours?? Any special tools/items I might consider buying before I get into it.

One seal is 2 pieces. You have to tap out the old seal in the block, but be careful.

post a work party in the SOCAL chapter section, you will get some great help!
 
89cherokeexj said:
I understood that you had to pull the tranny. I had no idea you could do it by just removing the starter. SO if I read correctly you can only chang out the bottom portion of the seal??? Thanks for all your input it will really help, I guess I better get wrenching cause the oil leak is getting progressively worse. Someone told me about those seals on the oil filter deal, I think I might just change those out also cause I HATE when my Jeep leaks oil..lol

So anyways I will need to buy 2 seals, I do not need to pull the trans?? It will only take around 4 hours?? Any special tools/items I might consider buying before I get into it.

No tranny pulling required, no starter pulling required, and the the lower is not in the oil pan, that makes no sense. Here is a good write up: http://jeepin.com/features/rearmain/index.asp.

When I did mine I had to jack the engine an inch or two to get the pan out. If you're lifted you wont have a problem. Also, get the '96+ one-piece pan gasket. Other than being messy, it's not too bad of a job. It was my first major repair I did on my jeep and would do it again without a problem.
 
rpraterxj said:
... the other part goes in the oil pan.

I feel so stupid.... I did not even catch this when I re-read my post.

The 2nd piece is not IN the oil pan, it's in the bearing cap.

Sorry for the mistake...
 
Thanks guys, I am going to go rent a car, and then get on it probably on Monday, the write ups really helped, Thanks again
 
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