rear main seal

All,
i have a '94 Cherokee Country with a 4.0. 4wd, auto. I've heard two methods of replacing the rear main oil seal. One, dropping the tranny to get at it and two, dropping the front axle to get the pan out and get at it. What have you all done that has been successful (or not). any tips or techniques i can watch out for?

I haven't done it yet(rear seal) but I have read on this forum that the hardest part about the job is getting the pan off. From what I read, you shouldn't have to remove the tranny or the frnt axle. Looking under mine there seems to be plenty of room. Goto you NAPA store, they have a niffty tool for removing and installing your 2 peice seal.
I beleive the proceedure was remove oil pan, rear main cap, using a small non-metallic tool push the old seal out(upper half). If you get the tool for this you will screw in the removal tool to pull out the old seal. Take the chase wire, slide it over top the crank, attach the other end to your new seal and pull into place. Put a little oil on it to ease into place. Then reinstall your main bearing cap, torque to specs, reinstall the oil pan with a new gasket. It sounds simple enough, but with vehicles in general, that is when it gets difficult. Good luck.

All,
i have a '94 Cherokee Country with a 4.0. 4wd, auto. I've heard two methods of replacing the rear main oil seal. One, dropping the tranny to get at it and two, dropping the front axle to get the pan out and get at it. What have you all done that has been successful (or not). any tips or techniques i can watch out for?

http://www.jeepin.com/features/rearmain/index.asp HERE IS A SHEET ON CHANGING THE REAR MAIN SEAL THERE IS NO NEED TO DROP TRANNY. THE LOWER YOU GET FRONT AXLE ASSEMBLY THE EASIER IT IS. DALE [email protected] :2cents:

With help from this site, the Haynes manual and the Jeepin.com article, I performed this repair on my '92 4.0L, 4X4. As mentioned on Jeepin.com from Dale's response, it's a dirty job. I never was able to get the pan completely off (I was able to get it dropped, but not out), but got enough clearance to change the rear main seal without too much difficulty. I replaced the oil-pan gasket by just working it back through and under the oil pickup assembly.

In replacing it, I screwed up two seals, and this caused me to make two trips to the auto parts store, so get at least one extra one. You can always return it if you get the first one right. The problem was pushing the top half of the new seal back up into the engine. It would get stuck about 3/4 of the way in and then after I forced it a bit, the edge of the opening in the engine would cut into the ridge on the outside edge of the seal, despite having put some liquid soap on the seal. I finally sprayed some WD40 up in the empty rear main seal cavity, and then ther 3rd seal attempt went through with little resistance. I think there was some left over debris that was causing a hangup. I was able to get it all back together and now have much less oil on my driveway. I'm a novice mechanic, and I can say that other than really getting dirty, it wasn't too bad of a job.

thanks for the advice guys. i'm a novice mechanic myself but getting some help from an expert. i'll let you know how i make out. we're tackling it tomorrow. glad the tranny doesn't have to dropped like chilton's says it does.

With help from this site, the Haynes manual and the Jeepin.com article, I performed this repair on my '92 4.0L, 4X4. As mentioned on Jeepin.com from Dale's response, it's a dirty job. I never was able to get the pan completely off (I was able to get it dropped, but not out), but got enough clearance to change the rear main seal without too much difficulty. I replaced the oil-pan gasket by just working it back through and under the oil pickup assembly.

In replacing it, I screwed up two seals, and this caused me to make two trips to the auto parts store, so get at least one extra one. You can always return it if you get the first one right. The problem was pushing the top half of the new seal back up into the engine. It would get stuck about 3/4 of the way in and then after I forced it a bit, the edge of the opening in the engine would cut into the ridge on the outside edge of the seal, despite having put some liquid soap on the seal. I finally sprayed some WD40 up in the empty rear main seal cavity, and then ther 3rd seal attempt went through with little resistance. I think there was some left over debris that was causing a hangup. I was able to get it all back together and now have much less oil on my driveway. I'm a novice mechanic, and I can say that other than really getting dirty, it wasn't too bad of a job.


damn. still have a leak. much less, but a leak nonetheless. and to top it off, i have a strange banging noise from underneath that comes and goes. i'm hoping that it's the tranny lines banging on the pan because i didn't tie something up right.

The leak may be due to poor sealing of the pan. The 3 piece gaskets are a bear to get just right and require a bit of help from some good silicone sealant.

However, you must be VERY CAREFUL about sealant around the shaft seal itself. It can keep the bearing cap from seating properly and create excessive cleearance.

I'd suggest you pull the pan again and check the cap and seal. Make sure you torque the bolts to spec.