Help..... Sos!!!
 

Hey all-

Engine is on the cherry picker right now. I was gonna bolt the flywheel on and then I discovered this(see pics). The rear main seal has a slight gap on the top part of it but on the bottom area of the seal, it's tight agaist the crank, no gap. When put the rear main housing on, the rear main seal was already in the housing, I just put a little vaseline on the crank and tightened each bolt at a time in a criss cross pattern.

I'm scared to put it all together and then have a massive oil leak out the rear main seal. Please let me know what you think. This is the outter lip. There is the inner lip also which is the one that actual is the the sealing lip. I would suspect it is off a bit too.

Please help ASAP.

PS- On the top where you see the gap, you see bits of white color, that is the vaseline that you see.

Thanks.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Spin the crank see if it changes.
Joe

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I spun the crank about 8x and it almost appears if lip started to angle out a bit in the top area where the gap was or is. That would mean it is making contact with the crank. Perhaps the vaseline was a bit too much and rotating it is tapering that level off. That's a theory possibly.... I'll post pics in a bit. In the unluck streak the cherry picker is out of oil. I'm trying to locate some now. Stand by for pics.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Hmmm....is it possible that the oil pan is pushing the cover up too high? Is it bent up around the edges at all?

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Hi Jet not sure.... Before I put any RTV on pan pan tonight, i test fit the oil pan to see if there was any high spots. It seemed to lay flat on the whole surface all the way around because I was gonna to pound down any high spots.

Here is a few pictures. Doesn't look good. I stuck a .013" feel gauge in and I can tap metal on the crank. From 9 o'clock to about 12 o'clock is this gap. I'm so afraid i'm gonna have to take the oil pan all off, the rear main seal housing and reset the rear main housing. Take me a few hours just to clean all the RTV i just laid on it tonight.

(see recent pics)


Thanks JET

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Too much silicone, and pushing down on the rear main housing??? Just a thought, but I don't see how it could have moved when 5 bolts plus rtv is holding that rear main housing in place. == Plus 2 pan bolts go into the rear main housing so I would think it would pull it the other way if anything and give it a gap on the other side if anything, but I don't know.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I suppose I'll pull the oil pan back off in the morning. I'll have to take the rear main seal housing off too. I'm the the rear main seal will be junk then. I'll have to order a new seal i guess.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

the oil pan shouldnt do that. Is the crank fully seated in the bearings? thecrank is to low. I was thinking bent crank but if the gap stays when turned then its not. How is the front seal? do you have the right rear mail seal housing? 2.4and 2.0 I think are differnt.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I would loosen up the bolts on the rear main housing, then tighten the ones on the oil pan to pull it down and see if that helps. hopefully the silicone hasn't set yet.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

That unfortunately didn't work... well I got up early this morning and pulled the pan and scraped all the rtv off the block. Then I took the rear main off and scraped all the rtv on the gasket surface of that. Then I put some oil around the lip and test fit it back on the block. Same crap. It has that little gap. Something isn't right with the seal itself like it isn't round. When I put the rear main in, I cut a billet chunk of aluminum in the lathe just a hair less than the outter dia of the oil seal. I then used the press to ensure that it went down evenly.

When you guys put the new oil seal in the rear main housing, do you put a film of rtv around the oil seal or no? I DID. I don't know what I did wrong. If you think of anything based on what I just said, PLEASE let me know.

Thanks.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

You're not missing the dowels that hold the rear main housing on there are you?

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I do not use RTV on the seals, but it really shouldn't matter. It should squish out when putting it together.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I took the oil seal out of the housng and put it on the crank by itself as suggested by the machine shop. Same thing, looks to be a gap. New rear main time. I dented it a bit taking it out of the housing so it's unusable now. Nobody in a 75 mile radius has these rear mains, not even a Napa, Checker, Advance Auto, CarQuest. I wish I knew of where I could get a rear main on a Saturday afternoon :(

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Ok, I'll have a new seal tomorrow afternoon. Question... must you bolt the rear main housing on the block and then install the oil seal OR can you do like I did and install the new oil seal in the rear main housing and then bolt it onto the block as one?

Thanks.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I don't see why either way wouldn't work, it still goes in the same place.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Yep, that's the answer I was looking for.... Thank you. I'm going to machine the billet aluminum that I used to install the oil seal the first time so that it goes from the outer edge of the seal to just before that dust lip, roughly about 1/4". Right now the aluminum piece that I used is completely flat. I don't think it should make a difference but I'm going to do it anyways.
Well see how tomorrow night goes.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Are the dowls there?
Put the rear main seal in the housing with a very thin film of sealant around it, then put the housing on with a very thin film of sealant and let the crank line it up for you, then tighten it down. Let it fully cure. Then bolt down the oil pan.

p.s. And don't use so much sealant on the surface. All you need is a slight film on it.

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

I say dowl pins are missing, was the block line honed?

~John

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

Hi John, block was not line honed at all. Both dowel pins are there for the rear main housing. I finally received a brand new OEM rear main seal yesterday. I put it in the housing and mounted it to the block. Same thing, the outer lip does not touch in certain spots. I even made sure the seal was pushed all the way down into the housing. I flipped it around backwards and the inner lip(the one that actually does the sealing), does touch all the way around. At this point, i'm just assuming that the outer lip is only a dust cover and not necessarily a lip that holds back oil. The inner lip(the one that you don't see) is the one that has the spring going around it on the inside of the seal.

I just now got the motor in the car about 45 minutes ago. Somebody PLEASE tell me I'm right on the above!!!!


EDIT: I found this on a non DSM site. It does not say anything about the outer lip holding back oil.

".....the rubber inner lip of the seal rides on the end of the crankshaft and keeps the oil inside the engine. There's a spiral-wound circular spring around the lip of the seal to help keep tension against the crankshaft."

Re: Help..... Sos!!!
 

The inner part with the spring seals the crank case.

~John