Rear main seal and crank

oc192

Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Hello All,

I have owned my car for about 5 years now and it was completely stock when I bought it. Shortly after, I had the rear main seal replaced. The mechanic showed me the main bearing cap and it had some wear marks on it. After about a year or so, the rear main started leaking again so I had it replaced a 2nd time.

Fast forward to today, I have been chasing random oil leaks like the oil pan, the turbo drain tube, valve covers etc. Still having serious leaks so I put some dye in the oil and I now see fresh oil coming out of the block in the crevice between the starter and block. One mechanic looked at it and said the rear main seal is leaking again, ugggh!!! He also advised that these are real pain in the asre to do correctly because they are 2 piece design. In addition, he said if the crank has some play it could be eating up the seals.

Question, if the main cap is showing wear, does this mean the crank has excessive play and is eating the seals or is the seal not being installed correctly? This would be the 3rd time the seal has been replaced in a 5 year period....

If the crank movement is the reason for the seal carnage, what would need to be done to correct it? What would be a rough cost of a bottom end rebuild?

Thanks,
Don
 
My guess is that that it's not the actual seal that goes around the crankshaft and its the side seals that go in the cap. Have it replaced again and tell them to substitute the side seals for right stuff. Once the cap is installed it is squirted from the can into the seals until it comes out the cracks. I have down this on a few now with zero leaks. I also throw throw the oils pan gasket in the garbage and use right stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My guess is that that it's not the actual seal that goes around the crankshaft and its the side seals that go in the cap. Have it replaced again and tell them to substitute the side seals for right stuff. Once the cap is installed it is squirted from the can into the seals until it comes out the cracks. I have down this on a few now with zero leaks. I also throw throw the oils pan gasket in the garbage and use right stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the advice, I will pass this suggestion along when I have it replaced again.
 
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