rear main seal question
 

Hey fellas i have a quick question about my 1985 gsl-se. i did my rear main seal because i have noticed quite a bit of leaking oil coming from behind the flywheel when the car was on. now that i removed the seal i doesnt look damaged at all. my question is the circular metal part that holds the seal that is being held by 6 bolts, is there a seal there that may go bad where this part meets with the block??? heres a pic of what iam talking about..
http://i41.tinypic.com/bf2yoi.jpg

anybody???

those 6 bolts you are talking about hold your rear stationary gear inplace

^ Right, but is there a seal between the rear iron and the stationary gear?


OP: I know the seal didn't look damaged, but you might not see the problem with the naked eye.
Take a look at your flywheel or rear counterweight and make sure there are not burrs or divots in the surface where the seal rides... Be sure the surface is smooth.
Take a look at your seal bore and make sure there is no damage there either.

good going ace!! i also know that i must also turn the motor with the back of the engine facing up so the rear rotor does not fall out of place before i remove the 6bolts but my question is : is there a seal behind that circular metal piece which iam sure there is and does it fail pretty often:icon_tup:

yes sir i will be sure and do that when i get home. your right it could be damage even just a bit and i dont notice it.. thanks:icon_tup:

anybody else care to chime in before i put his motor back in my car???

Yes there is a very thin rubber o ring that is on your rear stationary gear......

remove the stationary gear and you'll see the o ring. make sure to clean the groove..........

you need to clean the area on the cast iron where that seal seats.....

I just use some wd40, oil......on the o ring before installing the stationary gear into the cast iron.......

should be able to tap it in with a rubber mallet.......

sidenote ******** never tried putting that seal on with the engine in one piece. Just becareful when pulling the reat stat gear out. The rotor might shift slightly. Tap it back in carefully.........

I always change it when rebuilding the motor and it's all apart.

thanks for all the help fellas! anybody know if this is a pretty common problem for this o-ring to fail??

That o-ring almost never fails.

Just be careful while the stationary gear is removed. Don't go rotating the engine or the rotor is going to be a major pain to get back in exactly the right place.

Clean the area very well, lube up the new o-ring with grease or Vaseline. And of course, replace the rear main seal while you are there. Might even make sense to have the flywheel turned and the clutch replaced at the same time. And for that matter, the front seal in the transmission and the pilot bearing/seal. Don't forget the throwout bearing as well. :)

hey yall just pulled the rear stationary gear off today and iam sure glad i did.. the o-ring what destroyed, i have already replaced it and put everything together.. thanks to all for the help..heres a pic...
http://i41.tinypic.com/24fljxz.jpg

I working on the same problem on my 7th. I appreciate the information offered here! Thanks!.