Friendly rear main seal solution

[BrOndon]

Hey guys. I just wanted to share some experience on a product I swear by. So I flip these jeeps for a living and as we all know a rear main seal leak is synonymous with the 4.0L. Now unless you are dropping the pan which on the 4x4 is no walk in the park the rear main is not the most simple thing to get to. Even if you do drop the pan those who have replaced the rear main seal know that its not as simple as videos and books make it sound. At leas the few times ive done it it wasnt.

While at the local parts store i saw this product by blue devil called rear main stop leak. Sounds interesting and at 8 bucks i figured why not. Poured it in and incredible, i dont know how, but this stuff works great. Poured a whole bottle into the crank case and after running it for a bit the leak is gone. Not even a drip on some of my worst of rear main leaks.

I know blue devil rear main stop leak is not a permanent solution (although bottle claims to be) or the best way but for 8 bucks you cant beat it. Just thought I would share for those who are tired of oil spots on their driveway but dont have to funds time or know how to replace the rear main seal.

Side note im not affiliated with said company whats so ever.

 

[ParadiseXJ]

. So I flip these jeeps for a living...

I know blue devil rear main stop leak is not a permanent solution.

Nothing personal...but I'm glad I'm not buying one of your flipped Jeeps from you. I'd hate to find out that the PO had an RMS problem and just covered it up with this stuff. I don't use any type of stop leak because it either swells up and eventually ruins seals or clogs things up with micro-particles that are a b**ch to get rid of down the road when it gets "properly" fixed.

 

[dan1977p]

I'll be personal. I hate this crap. This is just like a used car lot throwing sawdust into a noisy diff to make it quiet just long enough to sell the car. This is the reason there are consumer protection laws in place.
What makes this fix so hard to do right? If you were really lazy and didn't want to drop the front axle low enough to pull the pan all the way out, you could just drop it enough so you can replace the pan gasket while you replace the seal. Would make the seal replacement harder but it could be done.

 

[Green Mesa XJ]

I tried a seal reconditioner, I forget the brand, never tried blue devil, this was whatever Walmart has.


It never seemed to do anything for the rear main, might have slowed down, maybe. It wasn't to try to fix the rear main either it was just to try it out. The front of the motor was all new seals, thought I'd see if it did anything to help the seals I wasn't going to get to. Honestly rearmain leak doesn't bother me, I'm used to it on the old jeeps. The old 2.8 has an incredibly crappy seal, one shop told me it was a rope seal but those went out long before the 2.8 was made, but it's just as crappy. The second crappy seal is at the oil filter fitting, when those leak and you won't find a 2.8 3.1 3.4 that hasn't leaked there. Anyway on the jeep the engine has to be lifted and engine mount removed to get the room to replace the seal for the oil filter housing.

Now on my newer vehicles it would bother the hell out of me.


Problem with the reconditioners is you have to drive the vehicle a thousand miles to see if it's going to do anything. If it's the right stuff it shouldn't over swell the seals, some mechanics swear by it, now mind you some people they are doing the job for don't have the cash for the labor and it's next best kind of solution.


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[tbburg]

This stuff is kind of like AC system stop-leak. It might work for a while, and probably won't screw up anything that isn't already messed up if it doesn't work. If it does work, it's only going to be an intermittent fix. Keep the vehicle, and eventually you're going to have to break down and do it right.

It works by adding a solvent that the seals in the engine will soak up, causing the seal to swell. The added pressure may help close up any leaking, or it may swell so much the seal lips crack and,.. well, you have an oil leak.