Rear main seal woes

[nightrunner84]

I was finishing my rebuild today and went to put the rear cover on when i noticed this. It looks like I may have rubbed it when turning the crank over. My question is, it looks like this is a sleeve that is pressed on. if that's the case, can I get a new one and have a machine shop do the crimp? Do they even have the equipment?

 

[OLDBULL8]

That's a seal wear ring. You can order/purchase a rear main seal with or without the wear ring or purchase the ring separate. There is NO crimping needed. They are thin so be carefull when installing a new one. If it's not put on square the seal will leak.

 

[nightrunner84]

That's a seal wear ring. You can order/purchase a rear main seal with or without the wear ring or purchase the ring separate. There is NO crimping needed. They are thin so be carefull when installing a new one. If it's not put on square the seal will leak.

Nice! I thought that I might be in trouble. Thanks!

 

[icanfixall]

You get an A+ for some great pictures... Thank you very much for that... Your not in any trouble. As posted above. Thats a wear ring. Someone before you replaced the rear main seal. Look at the seal and see if its a double lip seal. If so thats the new type. They install dry because they are not a rubber seal but a teflon material. I lightly oiled mine and have had no ill effects. Ford sells this seal and the wear ring called a speedi sleeve. To remove whats on the crank flange you hit it squarely with a hammr. Don't hit it so hard that the flange deforms. Just hard enough to expand the ring sleeve. Remove it. Scotch brite the original seal flange. Use some sealant as a lube so the sleeve slides on easier and then its sealed fromthe leaks that will happen if you don't use a sealant. I use permatex avaition cement number 2. Its a dark brown liquid. Stinks but works great. The new seal and sleeve comes with an installer plastic tool. Its not a very good tool. It will say not to seperate the seal from the sleeve. I found no reason for those instructions and no leakage or damage was done. Now that plate that the seal rides in has a paper gasket behind it and a location pin for seal to crank excentricity runout. You do not need a gasket. Hylomar or permatex ultra copper rtv works great. I use it for the oil pan gasket because the factory used something simalar to that. They never used a cork or rubber pan gasket and you should not use one either. So what you bought one. Thats a throw away gasket just like some of the other gaskets that get dumped in a gasket set. Its easier to add another gasket to a set than it is to stock several sets with differant gaskets for the same engine but a differant configuration....

 

[seawalkersee]

You can get them at NAPA too. There are two sizes so you need to know if the one you have is a factory one or an add on one (like mine is now). I have the PN if you need it. Also, when you put the flywheel back on, seal the bolts or they may leak like mine did (nothing like pulling a tranny on a fresh engine to seal a leak). I just used the teflon tape.

SWS

 

[Drew2010]

feel free to post up some good pics when you install it, im sure many would appreciate it. Someday my rear main needs replaced.

 

[OnDaRoad]

Say Bill ...

That's a seal wear ring. You can order/purchase a rear main seal with or without the wear ring or purchase the ring separate. There is NO crimping needed. They are thin so be carefull when installing a new one. If it's not put on square the seal will leak.

Bill,

Is it possible to change the rear main seal fairly
easy by pulling just the flex plate cover or does the oil pan
need to be dropped ?

I am in Evanston, WY


Your Buddy Jim

 

[towcat]

you do not need to pull the oil pan but you will need to drop the trans.
here are all the parts you will need. the plate in the last pic needs to be removed to make the job easier. it can be done with the plate installed but the time added will be in the two hour plus range.

 

[hesutton]

Bill,

Is it possible to change the rear main seal fairly
easy by pulling just the flex plate cover or does the oil pan
need to be dropped ?

I am in Evanston, WY


Your Buddy Jim

Jim, like Calvin said, you don't have to pull the pan. I did this job just 2 weeks ago while I was swapping the clutch/flywheel on my crew cab. I wouldn't wrestle around for hours trying to get the old seal out and a new one in with the rear cover on the block. Taking it off and swapping the seal then reinstall (with a new gasket on the cover and silicone on the pan) the seal and rear cover together. I used a large cup from Burger King as a sleeve to easily guide the seal over the lip of the rear of the crank.

Heath

 

[OLDBULL8]

Bill,

Is it possible to change the rear main seal fairly
easy by pulling just the flex plate cover or does the oil pan
need to be dropped ?

I am in Evanston, WY


Your Buddy Jim

Missed your post earlier.

Answer is NO. But like towcat says.

Not a job for on the side of the road repair.

What now? More trouble?