I hate Rear Main Seals

[deckroid]

As the title says... I have now burned through 2 of them trying to get them in. I ripped the 1st one and the second ate itself, basically folded over on itself. Anyone have a trick for getting these things seated properly? One thing that a buddy suggested and I am WAS to scared to try was bumping the motor over after getting it started. He says it should flow right in. Anyone have luck doing this?

I have oiled everything.... the seal, the whole area the seal goes through, me, the cat, my buddy's shoe after he laughed a bit too long...

And I thought doing the window track was a PITA. Pics might be coming. Depends on if I still have a phone after tossing it across the garage.

[REDONE]

For what it's worth, I use WD-40 as lube, and I rotate the crank by hand to feed it through. I pull all the spark plugs so there's nothing resisting the crank, and literally rotate the crank by grabbing the counter weights with my sausage fingers. I hold the seal-half against the crank while rotating and let it pull the seal through. I hope this helps, but I completely understand your frustrations, as I've spent the last week fighting a crank-but-no-start on a ZJ. Sometimes I have fuel but no spark, then I have spark but no fuel. I've spent $800 and easily 40 hours on this stupid issue. 2 new crank sensors (worse than installing a heater core), 2 new coils, even a new computer (PCM). In the morning I'm installing a new dizzy (for the cam position sensor) and if that doesn't work, I'll roll it into a ditch and report the pile as stolen. Arg!

[az chip]

First world problems. But I feel ya guys.

[ghcoe]

Yeah, years ago I gave up on mine and just put a rebuilt motor in...

[candymancan]

i couldnt even get my uoper seal out a punch didnt work and i didnt wanna dmg it and thrn not be able to get it out at all. or risk dmging the crank.

so i just did the lower seal on the bearing cap and hoped it fixed my leak. and it did lol.

Although using this fukly synthetic 0-40 oil its come back.. But thats ok ill drain the oil in spring and go back to 10-40 regular oil

[440sixpack]

For what it's worth, I used a Victor rear main on my 360 and it leaked right off the bat. so I rolled in a Fel-Pro and it's just fine now.

looking at the 2 seals together I could see no difference and no damage on the Victor. the only thing I can tell different between the 2 is 1 leaked and 1 didn't.

[deckroid]

Got it! Good lord, what a nasty job. When my wife was snickering at my displeasure, discomfort and disappointment in this whole job, I informed her that this just made buying a lift for my future shop a top priority. Barring that, putting a pit in the floor. Even jacked up my arms weren't able to make full use of my range of motion.

Now THAT is a first world problem. A rear main seal is a third world problem, at best.

[Tatsadasayago]

My Old School trick was to loosen the main bearing cap bolts. This allowed the crank to drop a few thousands (Depending on the converter or clutch slop) and made it easier to get the seal in. One tip: Don't install the seal with both ends flush with the cap/block. Instead, leave about 1/4" of the end exposed and add some good RTV to the end. Add the other half and do the same. This displaces the ends from the block/cap area and minimizes a possible leak point. It may sound silly, but be sure the seal is facing the right way. I've seen hundreds installed the wrong way...

[FSJ Guy]

My Old School trick was to loosen the main bearing cap bolts. This allowed the crank to drop a few thousands (Depending on the converter or clutch slop) and made it easier to get the seal in. One tip: Don't install the seal with both ends flush with the cap/block. Instead, leave about 1/4" of the end exposed and add some good RTV to the end. Add the other half and do the same. This displaces the ends from the block/cap area and minimizes a possible leak point. It may sound silly, but be sure the seal is facing the right way. I've seen hundreds installed the wrong way...

Good tips! And it makes replacing it the next time that much easier because you can grab it with pliers instead of having to pound it out.
Who has brass drifts anyway? Let's face it, most people (me) always end up using a punch or an allen key and a hammer to break it loose.

[candymancan]

Another thi g i hated abput the seal was the exhaust pipe is in the way

[Tatsadasayago]

My Old School trick was to loosen the main bearing cap bolts. This allowed the crank to drop a few thousands (Depending on the converter or clutch slop) and made it easier to get the seal in. One tip: Don't install the seal with both ends flush with the cap/block. Instead, leave about 1/4" of the end exposed and add some good RTV to the end. Add the other half and do the same. This displaces the ends from the block/cap area and minimizes a possible leak point. It may sound silly, but be sure the seal is facing the right way. I've seen hundreds installed the wrong way...

Good tips! And it makes replacing it the next time that much easier because you can grab it with pliers instead of having to pound it out.
Who has brass drifts anyway? Let's face it, most people (me) always end up using a punch or an allen key and a hammer to break it loose.

Thanks. In truth, using the aforementioned method, most of the time I simply used my fingers to place the new seal. It's amazing what a few thousands of an inch can do.