Rear Main?

[bilbo]

I have a full view of the rear main seal with the trans off for a clutch & flywheel replacement. While I had the trans off I figured it may be worth considering doing the main seal. It looks like it may be weeping slightly. I’ve had trouble with these before on other engines where I couldn’t get them to seal again, so should I just leave well enough alone for now?

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[Philip1]

I would recommend replacing the seal since you already have it torn apart.

 

[Ky85]

Book of Man, Chapter 8

Thou who doth not fix a cheap and hard to get to part when its accessible will regret future failure of said part.

 

[bilbo]

Book of Man, Chapter 8

Thou who doth not fix a cheap and hard to get to part when its accessible will regret future failure of said part.

Haha I know I know. Main seals scare me a bit since I’ve had issues in the past. It doesn’t seem too bad to replace, just have to be careful and make sure everything’s clean for the rtv to stick.

Any seal types/brands better than others?

 

[bilbo]

Well I’m into it now. I took the cover off and found someone had used a paper gasket that’s now fused to the block. I got most of that off, now the silicone remains. Any trick to removing that? It does not want to go anywhere.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

You're right about those gaskets wanting to stick. To help eliminate this, I'll use a very thin layer of RTV on both sides of the gasket. It's not to help it seal, it's because the gasket will come off easier in the future since it won't be stuck to the block or the cover.

 

[ih8minimumwage]

You're getting deeper than needed if you pulled the cover, but will be good to know it's not leaking.

I did my seal a couple years ago, Oreilly had the correct seal with a sealing ring in stock. The old seal will wear a groove into the crank and cause the leak in the first place, IIRC.

As far as getting silicone off; razor blades or a flat blade x-acto knife has done wonders over the years.

 

[TahoeTom]

When you replace the cover be sure to apply extra RTV in the corners where it meets the oil pan. If you haven't installed the seal yet, put the rear cover in place and you will see the size of the gap that needs to be filled.

 

[bilbo]

Well it’s done. I figured it would be easier with the cover off as I don’t have a driving tool. Hopefully I got those corners well enough.

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[IDIBRONCO]

I figured it would be easier with the cover off as I don’t have a driving tool.

I feel the same. It also seems to be easier to either install the seal in the plate or on the crank. Not trying to both at the same time.

 

[bilbo]

Doing this seal wasn’t too bad. I don’t have a hoist, so I have to do it from the floor. I didn’t even have the truck on stands and was able to make a little backrest and sit facing the seal with my head up in the trans tunnel. Couldn’t do that in any of the other cars or trucks I’ve done this in.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Other than the back rest part, that's how I've done them in the past. I do LOVE that about these trucks. It's also a lot easier to install the flywheel while sitting up instead of trying to do it while laying down.

 

[ComatoseLlama]

How can I tell if I need to use the repair sleeve? I'm about to do this next week

 

[IDIBRONCO]

If there's a groove in the crank that you can grab with your fingernail, then you should install a sleeve. You should order one ahead of time.

 

[TahoeTom]

Make a couple of alignment dowels by cutting off the heads of bolts to thread into crank, then hang flywheel. I'm way too old and weak to hold that thing in place.