ok, my 216 rear main seal leaks like crazy. it is the rope type seal. I found some directions that indicate it can be replaced without dropping the crank by working it over the top of the crank with a wire. anyway getting ready to drop the pan, and change the seal.. anybody have any first hand experence with doing this? any suggestions? thanks
It really sucks! Much swearing is involved, and that is just getting the oil pan off. You need to lift the front of the engine to get to the bolts, I had no luck snaking it over the crank. Rope seals leak. Period. They leaked on the sales floor. Kinda like a harley, A.D.s mark their spot.
"no luck snaking over the crank" ? what did you end up doing? yep rope seals leak.. but mine leaking really bad there is a big puddle under my truck in short order. I had the pan off before, been years ago now... from what I can remember it was a pain as you indicate as well.
I couldn't get the old one out, it wasn't leaking awful, so I just buttoned her back up. To do it right, you need to take out the trans and drop the crank.
Mail Seal Leaks There's a special tool to help draw in the new seal , used to be marketed under the name " Sneaky Pete " and last thing I knew , NAPA still carried it... It's a wire " Chinese Finger Trap " (for us old folks) that you loop over the crank and then place one end of the new seal in and gently pull it up and over , into place . Getting the old seal out is the tough part , after you loosen the main bearing caps , step on the clutch to dropthe crankshaft sufficiently to get working room . I use a long bit of steel shim stock to scrape the old seal loose . I also like to gently hand massage the new seal so it's not quite round , this helps it slip in easier . DO NOT FORGET to depress the clutch when you re-tighten the main bearing caps ! I'm sorry for the abriviated reply , I know I wrote a better one before, that above link isn't any good . I hope this helps .
wow looks tuff ok got the Pan and bottom rear main off this AM. wow that upper wick seal looks tuff, like I will never get it out. have you guys actually gottem them out before? afraid to go after it.. think I might bugger it up, and still not get it out. and not be able to put it back together buggered up and end up having to drop tranny or pull engine to do it, ending up as a lot bigger project than started LOL Anyway if someones actually done it succesfully i will give it a go. Have my sneeky pete in hand ready to go... but WOWser
Well ; It's a tough job , I used some .010" steel shim stock to work between it and the back of it's groove then it slid out not too hard ~ the Sneaky Pete is for installing the new one . This is one of those PIA jobs , sometimes it goes O.K. , others you'll sweat bullets..... Any way to approach it , be calm and work slowly and diligently .
