I need to replace my rear main seal and am wondering how bad of a job it will be. It's got to be the rear main leaking. Changed oil and before I could turn around, I was already low, and bottom of trans pan covered in oil. Few questions: is it 1 or 2 piece seal, will I have to remove the oil pan gasket, and are any special tools needed? Thanks.

1-piece -

But look at your oil filter and cooler lines, check valve covers, and the oil pump drive stub may be leaking - it has a simple paper gasket, like most gasser distributors.

They're all gonna drip from the pan rails.

Otherwise, drop the trans, pull the flexplate and get after it................

What gmctd said, check the lines first. Rear main seals(espescially 1 piece3 seals) rairly just blow out and poor oil out. Check everything else first since pulling the tranny aint fun.

Do not forget to check the valley under the intake manifold too. The OPS is there and it is a possibility that the diaphram blew out or the threads are leaking. The gasket for the injection pump or the housing it mounts to can also leak oil to that area. Valve covers can leak that direction in rare circumstances.

ANY OIL FROM THIS AREA WILL DRAIN DIRECTLY ONTO YOUR FLYWHEEL THROUGH A SMALL DRAIN PIPE AT THE REAR OF YOUR BLOCK!

Surprised you would be leaking so bad at only 74,000 miles. I thought the main seal was out on my blazer and it really looked like it was coming from there. In the end the passerger side valve cover was leaking in the back and oil was running down on top of the main seal and also the oil sending unit was leaking.

Thanks. I'll be sure and check all this before I get carried away. Had Oreilly's order the seal just incase. Hope I'm wrong, otherwise i'll have alot of fun tomorrow.-:t

u had similar problem,
my humble advice,
degrease the engine very good, preferably with high pressure washer,
then there are additives to find leaks you can put in the oil and will show up under blacklight,
then run the engine in dark area (garage?) and
use the blacklight to look for the leak, or trace to the source.

I had a similar leak and it ended up being the ops, it would leave a large puddle of oil under the truck fairly fast after parking.

Flywheel and torque converter clean as a whistle That cover is a pain in the butt to get out. Guess is something on top of motor. Should beat pulling the trans.

The other thing that can leak in the V of the engine is fuel from the hoses or the filter.

It isnt fuel. I tried to take a few pics. but they wont upload. Says cant find server. Will have to try later.

Please let us know what it turn out to be when you find the leak.:)

I have a leak that appears to be somewhere around the rear main. As I start replacing some things next week, I'm gonna clean and keep an eye out for something obvious. I also have one of those kits greensauce was talking about that I'm gonna use if I can easily find the leak.

i replaced the rearseal on a V6 one time only to find out it was $1.00 O-Ring leaking on the to of the engine where the timer was to be installed

Trying the pics again.

If you look closely, you can see a white piece of paper or something. Is this the gasket I hear about where the distributor is suppost ot be?

The last two pictures have me confused a bit Bow-Tie. I am not sure where these pictures are pointing to. Are they upside down or am I really tired?

I would say that the third picture in the first post is probably indicating a valve cover leak. It may be right on the back of the cover and spilling oil down the passenger side of the block and down through the intake valley drain hole to the rear of the block.

The last two pictures have me confused a bit Bow-Tie. I am not sure where these pictures are pointing to. Are they upside down or am I really tired?

I would say that the third picture in the first post is probably indicating a valve cover leak. It may be right on the back of the cover and spilling oil down the passenger side of the block and down through the intake valley drain hole to the rear of the block.

The last 2 pics are from the drivers side rear of the engine. Looking through the holes in the intake just aside from the fuel filter. Make sense? Your second statement is correcton location. I was wondering if it was a valve cover leak but things are really tight in there and I wasnt able to see much at the time. How hard is it to remove the valve covers in these things?

Here.

I might get flamed for this but:

I would undo the injector lines at the injector and remove the line hold down nuts on the intake. A bit of gentle bending/prying should lift the injector lines just enough to get the valve cover out. If the lines are bent too far it becomes difficult to attach the lines back on the injectors. The valve cover is only held down by about a half dozen bolts.

The proper way is to remove the intake and then fight with the injector line nuts on the pump itself and undo at the injector end. Removing the whole injector line bundle is surely the best way to do it. It is a larger job that way. The intake gaskets are not expensive but you might need a couple of odd shaped wrenches to get the lines disconnected from the pump. If you did it this way you would be able to inspect for leaks under the intake at the same time.

The 6.5 valve covers are unbelievably thin and trying to install the cork or rubber gaskets that show up in gasket sets often result in the crushing and slipping of the gasket. I have allways preferred to use rtv black silicone and it has always held up fine and for several years at the minimum. The same goes for the oil pan.

Even if you did decide to remove your intake and re-seal both valve covers this is a big savings in comparison to the hassle of changing the rear seal.