Rear main seal

[Torqued]

My daughter has a '90 Cherokee 4.0L A/T. The rear main seal is leaking pretty badly. How hard are these to replace? Are they the rope type seal that can be replaced from the botom or will this be a tranny pull?

[Dale Aeppli]

HI, GO TO ---- jeepin.com --THEY HAVE A ARTICLE ON REPLACING REAR MAIN OIL SEAL DALE [email protected]

[Saudade]

You can replace it by pulling off the oil pan and the reatr main cap. The seal is a 2 piece.

http://jeepin.com/features/rearmain/index.asp

[Torqued]

Thanks for the link. Doesn't look too hard.

[Saudade]

The harest part for me was pulling the pan off. It was SOOOO stuck on I had to pry it off and took over an hour to do so. Once off I had to deal with the old gasket on both the pan and engine block. I spent more time scraping off the gasket than it took me to replace the seal.

[Edbrooks]

Be sure it needs replacing first.

Remove and clean the CCV orifice on the rear top of the valve cover. Be sure the hole is clean. That's where the vacuum line fits. If that hole is plugged, you will get massive oil leaks around the engine's rear seal due to blow-by pressures.

You may have already checked this, but if you did not, please do so and "maybe" save yourself a LOT of work. When that hole is plugged, as it is on most high mileage older engines, crankcase fumes are blown out the rear engine seal, and the oil loss can be substantial! Simply cleaning that orifice (2.8 mm in diameter) with a drill or screwdriver tip, and then operating the engine for a few days normally you may see oil leaks disappear. If the orifice is plugged, the fix is FREE and takes ten minutes.

On the other hand, the seal can be replaced as others have noted, since it is a two-piece. The oil pan removal can be a problem, though.

Good luck.

Ed

[Torqued]

Thanks for that bit of info. I will sure check that orifice next time I'm over at my daughters.