rear oil seal time

My rear main seal is leaking. Just lost about 1/2 - 3/4 qt oil in 350 miles. I need to run about that far again Monday. Is this thing gonna keep getting worse or will it sorta keep leaking like this until I fix it? Can I keep adding oil to keep it full without worrying about it puking all the oil out and burning the engine up!?

It's not going to fix itself, and it will get worse. Will it suddenly blow up and spit ALL the oil out? Probably not.

Can you keep it topped off and be OK? Yes, you should be fine.

When you replace the seal, check your CCV system and make sure it's not clogged.

What a horrid job, I finished mine a few hours ago and I've never been so filthy.

At the same time I did-

1- rear main
2- Filter mount O-rings (they were terrible)
3- Checked flex plate bolts
4- front springs
5- front shocks
6- Control arms (replaced)

Then just to make things even, I did the rear springs and shocks too. I didn't intend to do the lift at the same time but since I had to unbolt the front shocks, loosen control arms and everything else I could think of to get the axle out of the way, I just tossed the new parts in as I put it back together.

I took mine all apart last thursday night though, there is no way I could do all of that A-Z by myself in one day, just the rear main is a big ugly job, and my pan dropped off when the last bolt came out, I can't imagine having that stuck on too.

anony91xj said:

It's not going to fix itself, and it will get worse. Will it suddenly blow up and spit ALL the oil out? Probably not.

Can you keep it topped off and be OK? Yes, you should be fine.

When you replace the seal, check your CCV system and make sure it's not clogged.

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Anybody seriously disagree with this?

I'd just fix it and get it over with. I had the same problem and I kept putting it off. I finally spent the $60 or what ever it is, and spent 3hrs and fixed it. Just spend some money on a repair manual, and just follow the steps. It's alot easier then most people think. Get one of the plastic gasket pusher things, it'll help get the top piece in without trashing it. But just do it, there's no point in putting of an easy job.

PoSxJ said:

I'd just fix it and get it over with. I had the same problem and I kept putting it off. I finally spent the $60 or what ever it is, and spent 3hrs and fixed it. Just spend some money on a repair manual, and just follow the steps. It's alot easier then most people think. Get one of the plastic gasket pusher things, it'll help get the top piece in without trashing it. But just do it, there's no point in putting of an easy job.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know it has to get fixed, but I needed to get home, and didn't want to f#*k it up before I got it home.

I replaced all the CCV lines on mine several months ago, I think it only ran $17 or so. Get a small wire or something and make sure all the fittings are open as well. Do you have any blowby? I think that would be more indicative of plugged CCV system, but this isn't the first time I'd heard of it affecting the rear main.