Oil Leak (1 Viewer)

[80 Cruiser Rod]

I have an oil leak coming from the rear of my engine. I am assuming it is the rear seal. I cleaned the engine and the valve cover and rest of the engine is dry but the bell housing is wet with oil. It only loses about 1 quart of oil every 3,000 miles. I took it to a mechanic and he told that replacing the rear seal might not work due to the 204,000 miles on the engine. He said the a new seal may not fit well enough because of wear. Is this a possibility?

 

[LexissLX470]

humm well I've never had to replace a rear main seal on any of my rigs, but my old SC400 was leaking oil from that exact spot and at 175K I had it replaced... that car ran until 225K without any problems..

Have you tired some heavier weight oil?

 

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Not exactly, I'm running 10-30W Castrol High Milage oil with a quart of Lucas oil stabilizer.

 

[tomatopants]

But oil additives are unneeded and not recommended for our vehicles....

Haven't you read the owners manual?


I'd try using some 20w-50. Because that stuff is like snot. Everyone of my friends that have vehicles with high mileage use it. But theirs still all leak like mad. So maybe not....


I would just change the seal and see what happens. It couldn't hurt it. Hopefully.

I use 10w-30 on an almost 200k mile engine, and it hardly burns anything. I usually don't have to add oil to keep it at the full line any time in between my 3,000 mile oil changes.

 

[Mars]

I have never heard of a gasket not fitting correctly because of high mileage...but I could be wrong. Its a high mileage vehicle right, they are supposed to leak !

 

[CJF]

Hopefully folks with more direct experience will post up, but I *have* heard of such a thing. I seem to recall though, that there are products (speedy sleeve??) to deal with it. If the leak is bothereing you, by all means get it fixed. (From someone else...)

On the other hand, you could likely go the life of the vehicle without the weep/leak becoming a real issue.

Curtis

 

[-Spike-]

Yes, it's possible to have a wear mark on the metal surface that the seal interfaces with. A new seal will most likely work. If there is wear on the surface it will be noticeable, and you can usually install the seal so it touches the surface in a different place. I'd be suprised if the rear of the crank is worn to that extent, that usually happens to areas that see a lot of dust, like the front seal for instance.

-Spike

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS]

rear main seal

Before going to the extent of a rear main seal replacement, might try changing the oil pan gasket. Mine leaked in the back, replaced it with a one piece "Beck and Arnely part #034-0732 " gasket. Ordered mine through Napa for about 25.00 including shipping. Worked great.

 

[CJF]

http://www.quintec.nl/englisch/cr industries.htm

 

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Thanks for the advice, I think I need to check out the pan gasket a little better.

 

[Rookie2]

Would you say it's a seep or a drip on the floor leak? I would definitely try a heavier weight oil first, like a Chevron Delo 15w-40. I switched back to Delo and my rear main leak appears to have stopped. It takes a few weeks to tell, as the oil up in the bell housing continues to work it's way down after the swap.

Clean the area real good first and make sure it's not the lower oil pan. Usually isn't.


Rookie2