Rear Main Seal

I took my 96 5.8 EB to get a quick oil change yesterday and the tech mentioned that I had a Rear Main Seal leak. Has anyone changed their Rear Main Seal and if so, how hard was it. Does anyone have any step by step instructions or illustrations on changing the Rear Main Seal or know of a link to some helpful info. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[quote name='yellowdog' date='Nov 2 2009, 06:12 AM' post='100478

Steve is right. Might as well drop the pan R&R the pump and whole pan gasket. It's highly likely that even replacing the rear main will break the seal of the pan gasket.

cpratt1999 said:

[quote name='yellowdog' date='Nov 2 2009, 06:12 AM' post='100478
Steve is right. Might as well drop the pan R&R the pump and whole pan gasket. It's highly likely that even replacing the rear main will break the seal of the pan gasket.

Click to expand...

I have a leak that is getting worse but it looks like it is coming from the pan itself vs. any seal on the truck. do I need a new pan or could this also be a rear main?

JC

JC

That pan looks like a goner. Many people fight it with the engine in the chassis, but I'll never do that again. Pull the engine, replace the pan, do whatever else might need doing, and drop it back in.



Thanks, I don't have the tools to do it myself so guess i will be spending a lot of money shortly....

JC

Actually, I am certainly willing to try it myself, and can rent a booth at the military auto hobby shop that would have everything I need. I am pretty good at fixing things but pulling a whole engine sounds pretty complex. (There are a lot of do-dads that need to be taken off and then reattatched.) how difficult is it to do and could a shade tree mechanic do such a thing? I need to replace my head gasket as well, should I try that too?

JC

I will get the Haynes Manuel and have a friend that offered to loan me space in his garage today so will have all the tools I need and a profesional to guide me.

When I get the time to put it in I will try and get a lot of pics and post them if anyone is interested.

JC

JCFindley said:

I have a leak that is getting worse but it looks like it is coming from the pan itself vs. any seal on the truck. do I need a new pan or could this also be a rear main?
JC

Click to expand...

dude thats one ugly oil pan!! you could just take the motor mounts and trans mounts loose and jack it up enough to fight the pan out

i also have this problem on my 96xlt 351 it looks like the pan gasket is just shot i do all my own oil changes should i bring it in for a professional openion

ok, here we go... I recall a few days when I was on leave, came home and saw he truck w/a nice rear main leak and 2 qts laying in the driveway.. and about $62.00 left between the better-half and me, so... a diy job

Rear Main Seal

Installation in a 95 5.8 by TRUCKY18 (Bco)

Installation in a 95 5.8 by Rafael E (Bronkzilla, stressed) < info than Trucky tho...

a little more in my site under Rear Main Seal

Oil Pan & Gasket

Gasket Installation info in a 96 5.8; "...I just did mine last night. Did not have to raise the motor at all. It does help to remove the starter and drop the exhaust at the manifolds. It drops down a ways so the pan will drop a little more. The pan drops down far enough to get the old gasket out. Get the engine as clean as you can with a can or two of engine degreaser before you start. Especially at the tranny inspection plate. The new gasket can be put on by going around the outise of the pan. Others have said to try to get it under the oil pump. There is enough slack in the front and back where it goes around the bearings to spread out far enough to get it in place. It took a while to clean off the surfaces of the pan and block for a clen fit. It took about 5 hours overall..." Source: by Tony R (TonyR)

Installation in a 90 302; entry #11 Source: by RFR (Mark B) at rfr.htmlplanet.com via web.archive.org (part of his pump replacement) "...Place a floor jack under the Oil Pan - and a good hefty block of wood between the pan and the jack cup. Lift the engine only as high as needed - I find that it almost touches the firewall. Make sure there is enough strain and service slack in all hoses etc - don't break anything..."

Installation in a 90 302; entry #12 Source: by RFR (Mark B) at rfr.htmlplanet.com via web.archive.org

Installation in a 95 5.8 Source: by TRUCKY18 (Bco) "...Now that the engine mounts are un-bolted I can jack up the engine, make sure to use a piece of wood between where ever it is you jack it up from, I just used the oil pan. And as you can see there was a little spill..." read more

more in my site under Engine Oil Pan

GL!