Rear main oil seal, how long have I got?

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1988 hj75 troop 2h h55f, Was playing the 'what's that smell?' game for a bit. Has to be the rear main seal , dribble. Of course it would muck up the clutch. I assume it is better to do it sooner than later?
 
Are you 100% sure.. a lot of leaks eventually make their way to the bottom of the bellhousing to drip off.
 
You'll be fine. My 2F was at 300,000 miles on the original RMS and clutch when I pulled it apart for my 5 speed swap. It was nasty but it hadn't messed up the clutch at all.
 
That's reassuring, I guess I get a bit pedantic as where I go is a good 50km walk to civilization. I think my clutch is slowly going and the dribble at the bottom of my bell made me disappointed. Never had any oil dribbles yet 340k kms, keep her pretty clean. Not the rocker cover seal that is sure. It is coming down the engine side of the rear cover plate.

I'll give her a good clean underneath and monitor, it is a little dribble not major. Still reckon rear main is the most likely candidate. More unlikely the camshaft welch plug.
Could be the rear of the sump seal too.

When I look how the cover plate fits over the rear end, then the flywheel covers the rear end seal, a leak from there would prefer to stay on the engine side of the flywheel, then hit the bell with the spin. So, oil getting on the clutch would have to be a fairly copious amount to soak the clutch. And the smell of oil on clutch would be acrid and slip all the time.

I have the smell of unburned hot oil fume (which could be any oil hose, connection, cap or vessel seal, wouldn't take much. The late clutch release which slowly gets later as wear goes on, suggests a wearing clutch.
 
I like your way of describing the issues, I can directly smell what you are describing. Just a direct though: If the hydraulic part of the clutch
system is in good order the clutch release point should stay quite the same during the lifetime of the clutch plate.
By the way - I have a very slow leak which is coming somewhere from the right hand sump gasket. It's low on the to do list (I would like to replace my crank bearings at the same time...I haven't come round to do it as the leak is really slow and strangely stops sometimes for a while.
Long story short that oil is finally finding its way to the bottom of the bell housing as well.
 
thanks relaxed. yeah, have lots to do, too many big projects.
Interesting after a little drive to the shops after the clean I definitely had a slip on the first two clutch releases, have not felt that before. Anyway it seemed to grab ok after a few more clutch releases. I'll check for fresh dribbles in the daylight tomorrow. The rear sump gasket was a bit oil wet before the clean.

I kind of just feel it is coming up though, the clutch and main seal. I have done some crazy heavy loads and towing over the last few years. I am building the same model very slowly so have a spare of nearly everything ready to go. Same gear box with the transfer rebuilt and resealed., shiny bell too. Machined flywheel. So nearly half the work done before I start. Spigot bearing, throw out bearing early and late.
I have had the transfer bypass hose 3yrs on my current drive, been ok, but not optimal. Already had the hd clutch kit ready, but after reading further, I ordered the standard kit, after all it has been exceptionally hard working for standard and I do value my clutch knee.
Big difference in price of oem main seal price and local dealers, amayama is around $22, cheapest on ebay is like $80 to get it fast. I figure I may as well do the rear diff at the same time and pilfer that from the one I am building with the solid spacer.. reversing with a heavy load on a crush sleeve cannot be good for it.
 
Hi mate - are you sure the hydraulic system is working as it should and does not restrict the throw out bearing to release completely ?
Otherwise its may be just time for a new clutch. They wear very fast once they start to slip. I would go for the Amayama one ....
 
Could give the hydraulics a flush, but never lose fluid and the pedal feels fine.
After 36 years, I reckon some attention is coming up behind the bell.
I am going to monitor the dribble. Ordered the exedy/aisin clutch which is oem, amayama is a bit more in price for same thing on that one.
 
Oh geez, what a nob. Isolation, lack of sleep, terrifying teenagers testing their mortality can make a mind catastrophize.

I use copper washers for sump plug and heat them up red to soften them, I had to nip that up. The wind blew the drip against the cover plate.
After the clean I spotted the tiniest weep of brake fluid on the slave, that was the clutch slip. Replaced slave, shall do master shortly. All good.
It was one of the first jobs I did about 150k kms ago, sounds about right.

Should be ok, thanks guys for being there and seeing calm clarity.
 

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