previous owner was such a liar. this trans has been out before. whoever did the rear main previously didn't push it in all the way. it has been rubbing on the back of the flex plate. rubbed a nice groove.. freakin idiot... oh yeah, this is a pain in the butt to do.. definitely a two-man job.. this little truck better love me after this...

sidenote; finally registered it. i'm glad too, because after all the work i've been putting into it i would of hated to find out it had a salvaged/rebuild un-registerable title. hulk would be an angry man... i'll post some pics of the rear main tonight maybe..

what a pain.. it's back together. i hope i never have to do that again on this truck.. ugh... but it doesn't leak, so i can't complain too much.. total hours i think are about 15..

pictures, as promised:

new seal vs old:


1120110730 by fragile_this_side_up_retro_club, on Flickr


1120110731 by fragile_this_side_up_retro_club, on Flickr

back of flexplate thing.


1120110731a by fragile_this_side_up_retro_club, on Flickr

I've been there my friend.. I did the rear main since I needed the clutch. Took about 8-10hrs for me but I went to the shop I work at and used a lift with a tranny jack and air tools. Did on my own but I had a co worker there in case something went wrong.. I don't like to work at the shop by myself if I'm under the lift or using heavy equipment. They're an all day or two day project for sure.

i hate my life. started leaking like crazy today.. i don't know why. everything was fine.. i'm so mad right now..

Sorry to hear man!

it happens. i just don't want to deal with it. at least it shouldn't take as long to do, but what i need to find out now before i even start is WHAT is pushing the seal out of the engine? my crankcase pressure may be really high.. but my pcv is fine?

Only thing that I can think of is that blown piston rings can create more crankcase pressure than the pcv can handle, but I doubt that's the cause. I'd imagine another seal would've gone. I suspect a few things. I like to use RTV on the outside of the seal. Only on the part that seals against the engine, not the crank (for the newbs reading, lol). However on the seal that contacts the rotating assembly, I like to use some transmission assembly lube. It's like a thick grease but it turns into a harmless liquid once it gets hot and mixes away in with the oil.. As I said, very little won't harm the oil/engine. Guess you could use oil, but oil doesn't protect as well during install. The seal can be damaged when sliding the seal over the rotating assembly. I've done this and I work in a shop. A seal can be rolled as well, especially if no lube was used initially. I'd suggest buy another seal and plan on replacing it. That seal should take some tapping with a hammer and flat object (like block of wood?) to install it straight and without damage. You'll probably find the problem once your in there. I've been there. We all have. Look on the bright side? lol U can do the same job but faster knowing what u got to do and what tools you'll need (= btw, sure it's not a oil leak from above thats running down? Cause most leaks do wind up as a drip of oil below the rear main. These do get leaky valve covers AND there's a sneaky little exhaust cam position sensor on the rear passenger side of the motor. They have 2 (1 or 2) o rings on the sensor that keep oil out and they can leak too. They will leak down the back of the motor and onto the transmission bell housing. Anyway. Keep us posted bro.

i used a thin layer of wheel bearing grease on the rotating assembly, but no rtv on seal to block.

i've replaced the cam sensor seal and the oil filter o rings. also replaced the valve cover gasket.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

i'm going to attempt to push the seal back in enough to get it sealed by removing the inspection plate and using a prybar or screwdriver, then i'm going to pull the dipstick and crank it up to see if it is being caused by excessive blow-by or maybe a clogged PCV system.

Well hmm. Lack of Rtv from seal to block shouldn't have made this happen. Don't think that they even tell you to do that in instruction manual, but I do it anyway.. Just in case there's a deep scratch in the block or something that might cause real slow seepage between block and seal. U did the more important part, lubing the seal to crank.