rear main seal leak

["mike sutton" <mikanlin62@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Its not completely unheard of for a rear main to drip a bit after an oil
change, its not a usual occurrence but it does happen.  I had a Fury that
exhibited that once, it did drip a bit after an oil change where it hadnt
before, but after some time the drip lessened to the point where it was
nearly gone.

If it was a steady stream of oil I would be more concerned.  Remember the
rear main seal is held in place by a small metal seal retainer that bolts to
the bottom of the block, and that retainer has itself two thin strips of
sealing material on each side of it.  Its conceivable that depending on the
kind of oil removed and the length of time it was in the car, as well as the
oil that was put back into the car, the side seals could be letting a bit of
oil past them.

Make sure its full on the dipstick and monitor the oil level and or the size
of  the spot that shows under the car as it runs, see if it increases or
not.

As far as the how to and all, the trans can stay in the car, the engine oil
pan has to come off which can be tricky depending on the cars steering
components interfering with pan removal.  Then the seal retainer can come
out, the lower half is easy to replace.  The upper seal half can be rolled
out of place with a brass tool - brass or copper so it wont scratch the
crankshaft - then a new upper half can be put in.  This presumes the new
seal is not the rope type, which would be a definite pain to try and roll
into place.

Make sure you specify to your parts store that you dont want to have to
remove the crankshaft to replace the seal and that you want the newer split
half style of seal. They should know what you mean.

Mike Sutton
" Mikey"
62 Crown Coupe