Rear Main on 1fz tips

[marshaltex]

So I spent roughly 30hrs this weekend taking out my tranny and transfer case to replace the rear main and upper arc gasket on the ole LC. Im tired, every knuckle is busted and the front main still needs to be replaced, but it is done.

I have got a little list of tips and tricks for any who dare to embark on this venture.

1. Front tires need to be a minimum of 12" off the ground to get the tranny out from under the car.

2. 2 foot cheater pipe

3. Latex gloves, its gonna be dirty.

4. The t-case cant be separated from the tranny under the vehicle because of one f-n bolt if you can get it out more power to ya and ill buy you a beer.

5.You can access the t-case shifter mounting bolts from the top after removing the console. You need to remove the neutral safety switch, and the vacuum line from the top of the trans as you perform #6

6. There are two tranny bolts on the top of the of the bell housing that are very hard to get to. The only way I found to get them out is to loosen the bolts on the tranny that you can get to, put a floor jack under the rear output of the t-case, take out the tranny support cross member, and easy the jack down tilting the motor and the trans. back. (watch for stretching wires and plugs get to them as the trans comes down!) Then with 3 feet of extention and your tongue held just right you can get on them. Air tools are a must.

7. My biggest problem was the stupid trans cooler lines. There is a M bracket at the very front of the bell housing holding these lines. Mr T. nicely ran a wire bundle right in the middle of it, secured with a zip tie, covering the bolt to remove it. Figured this one out the hard way. I took a cold chisel and cut the bastards.

Now your tranny is free. In this description I didnt mention the obvious, but thought these ideas might help someone out.!

Now then on to birfield rebuilds, axle seals, and a front main.......

 

[fzjconvert]

WOW! Thanks for this! This is one job I have been dreading, in fact I am looking at the new seal right now sitting to left of my monitor. I think that this may be the one job I pay to have done... Anyway thanks for these tips! You earned it!

 

[marshaltex]

couple things. On number seven when i said that i cut them, I was refering to the M bracket not the tranny lines. LOL

Friday night 5pm to 3am I had four friends helping me. We had the A team and the B team, while one was working the other was working on the cooler.
Sat. 9am to 9pm 2 friends
Sun 2pm to 9pm 2 friends

I guess what im trying to say is your gonna need help. Go fill your cooler up with frosty beverages and buy them meals theyll hang around to see it through!

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Yeah, I gotta do this too... One of these days.

 

[Brian894X4]

So how bad was the leak? Seems that we all pretty much have some sort of seapage at least. One dealer mechanic told me that it's not worth replacing and the leak can't do anymore than seep out oil, because of the design of the seal and how its mounted. Basically he was saying there's no real chance of catastrophic failure, but oil will drip onto the garage floor or driveway until it gets replaced.

I don't know if he was full of it or not.

 

[jlg32281]

i would like to know if it can completely fail too. oil is cheap if that's all there is to leaving it.

 

[fzjconvert]

i would like to know if it can completely fail too. oil is cheap if that's all there is to leaving it.

That's the way I look at it too! My time is worth more than a few quarts of oil... I just hate the drips on the driveway because it gave the something to complain about. Now I have a drip pan under it. Anyway that is a great question for someone... I know I will be rebuilding at some point but, can that seal catastrophically fail? Is it worth replacing if you plan rebuilding at some point in the near future?

 

[Gumby]

Unless you have major driveway concerns or have a manual trans you can't possibly put enough oil in there to pay for a change. Wait until the tranny or engine pukes at a half million miles and do it then.

I just did one on an engine/trans swap and it was barely worth the effort to split the drive train on the ground. I have to say I suggested that one. Only because it just isn't worth doing one later.

I had a guy who insisted I did one. I had to charge him a mint

The chances of something else going wrong is way to high. I think the studs on his exhaust was the worst problem I had. You have to drop the cat pipe and it's very easy to break the studs or pull the threads out of the manifold. broken cross member bolts is another giant headache you could cause.

 

[SOCALFJ]

Im with all you... im waiting for the day i need to do a motor swap, tranny rebuild or what have you before i change that seal. For now, adding oil and mopping up the shop floor works just fine

 

[packetstormin]

I paid $550 in labor and supplied my own seal. Its was a Toyota Ome seal. I guess maybe I will get another 200k out of it. It took my mechanic two days with him and another guy working on it. My seal was pretty bad. Mechanic did say that the transmission was one of the heaviest sobs he had ever dealt with.

 

[fzjconvert]

Fair enough! I will just keep adding oil and clean the drip pan for now! Since it is not just pouring out, I'm not going to worry about it any more... Thanks for the impute guys!

 

[marshaltex]

HAHA that tranny and t-case combo had us all red faced before it was out from under the car. The reason I replaced the rear main is the ole LC is gonna be my daily driver for about 6 months and i was loosing like a quart every 2 days sitting or driving...When your run mobile 1 synthetic it can add up pretty quick. I think now that i have done it once i could probably do it in half the time.

Funny fact about the change. I broke every chrome wobble in my tool box before I went to sears and bought an impact wobble. I asked the guy yalls warranty applied to the impact wobbles and he said yes. My words, " welp ill prolly see you again before you close you might as well put another one of these behind the counter for me. LOL

 

[alia176]

I had these pics on my hdd so i figure it'll help visualize this area of the engine.

The second picture gives you a good view of the rear main seal and the oil pan arch seal. The two are awfully close and it's hard to ascertain which one is the actual culprit!!

In this case, both were leaking.

 

[fzjconvert]

HAHA that tranny and t-case combo had us all red faced before it was out from under the car. The reason I replaced the rear main is the ole LC is gonna be my daily driver for about 6 months and i was loosing like a quart every 2 days sitting or driving...When your run mobile 1 synthetic it can add up pretty quick. I think now that i have done it once i could probably do it in half the time.

Funny fact about the change. I broke every chrome wobble in my tool box before I went to sears and bought an impact wobble. I asked the guy yalls warranty applied to the impact wobbles and he said yes. My words, " welp ill prolly see you again before you close you might as well put another one of these behind the counter for me. LOL

Yeah, at that point I would probably do it too! Mine is more of an annoyance so, good call on your part IMO...

 

[fzjconvert]

I had these pics on my hdd so i figure it'll help visualize this area of the engine.

The second picture gives you a good view of the rear main seal and the oil pan arch seal. The two are awfully close and it's hard to ascertain which one is the actual culprit!!

In this case, both were leaking.

Ali thanks for those photos, gives me a good prospective!

 

[Gumby]

I got a lot more leakage with Mobil 1. I switched back to dino and the leaks all but disappeared.

 

[alia176]

Ali thanks for those photos, gives me a good prospective!

You're welcome. Imagine trying to find the source of a leak using a mirror looking through the inspection hole on the bellhousing (rectangular hose at the bottom) while looking upward!!!

 

[SunTzuMD]

How hard is it to change the rear arch seal, if the tranny is already out to replace the rear main oil seal?

 

[Kernal]

marshaltex: are you dropping and resealing the main oil pan while you're in there? I had the typical seeping at the weep hole/inspection cover and when my main pan was RR'd the oil leak stopped.

 

[alia176]

How hard is it to change the rear arch seal, if the tranny is already out to replace the rear main oil seal?

It's still a PITA. I have a writeup in the FAQ to give you a good sense of the project. Sorry