Need Help with RMS Replacement

So, after months of working up my nerve I started working on the Jeep and dropped the pan to change the Rear Main Seal (RMS). I can't get the stupid top part of the RMS out? Anyone got any ideas? I've hammered on it with a punch and I'm damaging it, but it's not moving. :flamemad:

The bottom part of the seal was hard as a rock and brittle. It actually broke a few times before it came out. I've got about 177k miles and I think all this stuff is original.

I think tomorrow I'm going to get a wooden down and hammer away. Any ideas? HELP!?!?!?

You're on the right track. I beat the crap out of mine, actually started driving the wire in the seal out around the shaft before the rubber part came loose. Go easy, don't want to knick the crank.

Mark

All you can do is hit it harder. make sure you use a brass or wooden dowel. you want to hit on the metal piece if you can still see it. it will eventually break loose. Then when it does it sounds like it is going to be a pain so you might have someone rotate the crank while you grab it with a plyers or needle nose vise grip.

sean

It may also help to loosen the rearmost couple of main bearing caps - gives you a little wiggle room, and takes some of the "crush" off of the seal half.

The seal is "cored" with a metal wire, which can work in your favour... As mentioned, use a brass drift - and, if you don't want to be too afraid to whack the thing, a brass hammer (it's not 100% insurance, but it's something. Lead, rawhide, or wood will also work - don't use rubber, unless you want to catch yourself in the head on the rebound...:twak

But, I did have one get silly on me - I loosened the last two main caps, and suddenly it came loose. Go figure.

As suggest, use a brass punch and give the metal wire core a few good hits. When the seal starts to come out you can pull it the rest of the way using needle nose plyers.

I would also suggest buying 2 seal kits, because there is a good chance you will screw up installing the seal upper half.

Ok, finished last night. I'll post for other's future reference.

Drove all over town looking for a brass punch, couldn't find one. Finally came home and used my steel punch being as careful as I could. Hitting it with hammer yielded no results.

I read here somewhere about using a bottle jack...I made the engine move up a few inches, but no success either.

A friend finally came over with the pin from a brass door hinge! Just the ticket! He had it out before I got home.

Reassembly went pretty easy. I used the zip tie trick on the oil pan gasket.

I did have to take loose the shocks, drag link and front sway bar AND have someone stand on the wheel to get the pan out.

Now, we'll watch and see if it leaks! It's hard to tell right now because there's so much oil and yuck on the motor from before.

Oh, and it took about 10 hours total.

AlabamaDan said:

Oh, and it took about 10 hours total.

Click to expand...

wow! I am sure glad I did mine while the motor was out - heck you could have almost done a motor swap in that amount of time

I probably couldn't have.