that rear seal!

[Triton46]

I've got the same problem...the bottom of the oil pan is covered and there is a drip on the oil filter.

I thought the filter may be loose, but there is no oil on the sides of the filter. I checked the pan gasket and the sides of the engine...nothing. I have about two drops on the garage floor right where the manual tranny meets the pan.

This leads me to think the rear main seal is leaking and spraying oil on the bottom of the pan and filter since nothing is leaking from the front or sides (is that possible?).

A friend of mine said you may be able to take the rear main seal off without removing the tranny. Something about an old mechanics trick of loosening the bolts and pulling the old seal off while threading in a new seal.

Anyone know of some cost effective replacement for the rear seal? I need to take mine sometime this year.

 

[devhawes]

I bet the leak is coming from the back of your intake manifold. I had the same thing on my 91. I fixed it myself in about 3 hours. If it is the main seal your tranny will have to come out to replace it.

 

[Gopher]

i just read what was on the first page.. I too have this same problem, but with an auto tranny. I still leak very little though, but this worked out very well. I run one quart of synthetic oil and 4 quarts of regular oil. That seemed to work out very well and is pretty inexpensive.

 

[Triton46]

devhawes,

I felt the back of the engine from the driver side today before leaving work...yup, oil.

So at this point, I figure that is my leak. Is this the lower intake manifold or the valve cover gaskets? I don't see any leakage on either side of the engine, below the valve covers...but they could be leaking from behind. I remember someone saying the number 5 spark plug is the telltale sign for valve cover leak, if so mine were fine.

What did you do to fix the problem?

 

[devhawes]

It takes some time. You need to disconnect your fuel lines remove the upper intake. Pull the lower intake. Clean all the services and reassemble with the new gaskets. Ford has a service bulletin for the reassembley that tells you to put rtv in the corners. The local engine shop calls them 4 leakers. It is a known problem to leak at the back of the intake. If it was your valve covers you would be able to see it. I tried retorqeing mine first and it did nothing.

 

[Triton46]

devhawes,

Did you do yours yourself or take it to a mechanic?

If you did it, was it easy to do with common tools? Since you have to take the valves off to do the lower intake, I guess you should redo the valve gaskets as well.

I'm just curious about the three hours part. If I can do it myself, I would prefer too.

 

[Triton46]

I have heard prices from $400 to $1500 to have the rear main seal replaced.

Since mine is the intake manifold seal, what is the ballpark to have this done?

 

[devhawes]

I did it all myself. It was not that hard. I have some experience and have rebuilt a few motors etc. but I don't think anyone with a bit of mechanical know how would have a problem. If you have never done anything like this before I would plan on taking the better part of a day to complete it. You need a 3/8" torque wrench and a set of spring lock fuel line tools to separate the fuel lines. If you have a/c you will have to work around the lines so you don't have to split them but it can be done. I would change the valve cover gaskets while your there. The intake gasket is a fairly poor design and you will want to take your time getting it in place perfectly before reinstalling the lower. Good Luck

 

[Triton46]

Thanks Dev!

I just went to a 4X4 shop a Jeeper friend of mine goes to for all his mods. This guy said he would create a groove in the intake, make a gasket (no RTV) then go through a cleaning process (sand, beed blast, etc) and put it all back together with valve gaskets for $300 and some change, so I'll probably get him to do it at the end of the summer.

I'd like to do it, but I think this one is a little beyond my experience.