Rear main seal leak - 2.8

[poppajon]

Yeah, yeah... the 2.8 is still runnin ok. No need to tell me how bad of an engine it is. She's only got about 35,000K on her, but of course, my rear main seal is leaking. Atleast, I think it is. I cant figure out anything else it could be. The valve cover gaskets are dry, and so is the oil pan. But the leak is comming from the bellhouseing area, right in front of the torque converter.
I know that these engines are notorious for rear main seal leaks, but I would like to know what I can do. Like I said, its a fairly new engine, that I put in after the last one blew. Its not leaking too bad yet, but i'm sure it will in the future. Can I try engine stop leak? Or is that not the right type of seal.
If I do decide to replace it, do I need to take out the engine, or can I do it by just takeing out the transmission. (automatic transmission) What kind of seal should I replace it with? Thanks for the advice.

-Jon

I wish I had a 4.0...

[xj_kid]

I believe you can do it by just dropping the tranny. Well, that's what I had to do with my audi.


1990 XJ Laredo 4.0L 5spd

[Andytron]

I "think" you can do it by dropping the tranny. Stop leak will only make things worse later on. It makes the seals swell. Once they swell they wear a little more and leak even worse.

"Every form of refuge has it's price."

[xjy173]

35,000K miles?????[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/blush.gif[/img]; you mean to tell me your engine has 35 million miles on it??[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif[/img][img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img] No wonder the rear main seal is leaking!![img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Oh, you mean 35 thousand miles?[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]....then no, I wouldn't use any type of oil treatment to try to stop a leak.

I don't recall, Jon, if your engine was new or a rebuilt. If it was the original engine that was rebuilt or a new crate engine, then it is the later model of 2.8 with larger crank journals and one piece rear main seals. In that case, you would need to remove the transmission/torque convertor to replace the seal. If it was a reman engine, then it is possible you got an earlier small journal engine with rope type rear main seals. Those are the ones that give the 2.8 it's lousy reputation for oil leaks. The rope seals can be replaced by dropping the oil pan and the oil pump to get at the seals. [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

On that 2.8 engine, the distributer is in the rear of the engine. There's an "o" ring where the chaft goes into the block that gets hardened and leaks oil down the back of the engine. It looks like a rear main seal leaking. But on the down side, the rear main seal is a weak link and you should never miss a chance to replace it every time you can.