Rear main seal removal

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eaj71

eaj71

10 Year 15 Year 20 Year OG
Joined
May 11, 2002
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129
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Location
twin cities
1980 fj40 2f
Here is a picture of the rear main seal. Still installed. To remove this must the bolts at both sides be removed at 4 and 8 o clock or am I missing something.

Does the pilot bearing gave to be out first. Although I don't think so

Thanks




ImageUploadedByIH8MUD Forum1407713391.020969.webp



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pilot bearing can stay...you have the option of pulling the seal with main cap in place using a screw and pliers, and then pounding a new seal in square using a piece of 4" abs and a coupling...(search for rear main seal tools...) I prefer to get a pan gasket and do that "while I'm there".the procedure is to drop the pan, pull the rear main cap= 4 bolts total-don't drop it BE CAREFUL with the bearing, set aside and simply grasp the seal with the fingers of one hand and pull it out, clean seal surface gently, replace seal with lightly lubed lip and a slight twisting motion as it finds its seat. lube bearing face and place permatex #2 at the edges of the main cap...(search for how not to build 2F for pic of where...pg 7 I think...) torque main bearing cap in place at 85ft#, clean pan sealing surfaces and install new one piece pan gasket. you can take the opportunity to flip the gears in the oil pump and check the rod bearings if youd like, while you're there. don't forget to use a sealant on the flywheel bolts- I used a liberal amount of loctite blue this time, torqued the wheel to 64 ft#. if your pilot bearing is good and you don't have a new one in a new clutch kit, then run what's there, otherwise, while you're there...it's got to be the hardest place to get at so no sense in leaving things that may cause irritations later; same for the throw-out bearing...don't forget to have the flywheel surfaced, too...dang rabbit hole, huh?
 
So those two bolts don't do anything related to the seal?
Thanks
 
Those two bolts belong to a bearing cap. You do not have to remove it to replace the seal, but it is a lot easier to get the seal on straight and un-buggered with that bearing cap off. It also gives you the chance to polish the end of the crankshaft with a bit of fine emery cloth before you install the new seal. But as Lambcrusher said, you'll have to drop the oil pan to drop the bearing cap.

Personally, I would replace the pilot bearing every time I had the transmission off. It's cheap; why risk a failure later if there's any question at all?
 
Hi all,

I believe you are over-thinking the process! ;-)

Buy a seal removal tool. Use it to remove this RMS.

Grease the groove, then carefully tap the replacement RMS into place.

Good luck!

Alan
 
What I would do is use a center punch on the metal part of the seal. Then use a small drill bit to drill a hole in the seal. Next start a sheet metal screw into the hole a couple of threads deep. I use a pair of angle head needle nose pliers to leverage the seal out using the screw. It works 100 percent of the time. The real trick is getting the new seal in square without any damage. If you can get the right installer it is worth it. If you cant then fab one or flip the old seal and use it to push the new seal into place.
 
Josie'sLandCruiser said:
Hi all,

I believe you are over-thinking the process! ;)

Buy a seal removal tool. Use it to remove this RMS.

Grease the groove, then carefully tap the replacement RMS into place.

Good luck!

Alan
Click to expand...

yeah, maybe, but with the method I recommend, luck doesn't need to be present...same for F, 2F, and 3F/E. it takes longer, but there's no chance of buggering up the seal, and you have the confidence of knowing your pan is good and sealed up, as well. I just know how much it sucks to get inot that spot to begin with- how bad would it suck if you had to get back into it w/in a couple weeks/months if a half cocked fix didn't fix it(dinged seal...)to each their own, and YMMV...hth
 
Ok boys
I got the oil pan off and removed the two bolts

And the four bolts up in the bell housing

Any more guidance on how to get the main seal / and it's housing out?

Does the bellhousing have to come off ?

Thanks



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Hiya, you shouldn't have to take the bell housing off. As the previous posts said, just pull off the seal with a seal puller or pliers. Also, I would 2nd the idea of putting in a new pilot bearing. When you put in the new seal, grease the inside not the outer side. You really do have to be careful about putting the new one in as it can get buggered up easily. Once you get it started, I have heard placing the flywheel on and evenly bolting it in will do the trick. I would check it after wards to make sure it is in nice. If you want to check for leaks, you can bolt the flywheel on and start the engine. After it wrms up, if it leaks, you'll know. If you do this test, Make sure your flywheel bolts are on tight and you are well away from the spinning flywheel.

Good luck!
Best, ty
:beer:
 
Once you remove the seal, make sure you polish the crank with emery cloth.

Per another post, I used the nose cone from a transfer case to install mine. worked well..

edit...I did not remove the bearing caps.
 
Ah. That is the terminology

Where are these bearing caps?

Seriously. I cant figure this one



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Again, to clarify.... i think i have the bolts off, but I can not figure out how (or what the bearing ) cap is, much less how this "bearing cap" comes off.
it doesnt seem obvious to me.

no schematics seem to demonstrate it (such as SOR or FSM).

so more guidance is needed from you wise people who have doen this....

thanks
eaj71
 
So the oil pan is down and the clutch has been removed. I have removed the flywheel bolts, and realized that the exhaust system was preventing the flywheel from dropping free. So after gas axing the offending pieces of exhaust tubing out of the way, the flywheel dropped free. It is good to know an exhaust guy.

I also removed the four bolts retaining the number four main cap so that I could remove the rear main seal by hand and inspect the number four main bearing.
ms01.webp
fw01.webp
rm02.webp


From the FAQ
 
Ok. These pictures help!!

There are those four bolts up in the housing. These are not for the bearing cap. So I have these confused. Will put them
Back in.

And go sniff around again for these mysterious bolts that I can't seem to locate to release the bearing cap.

Hmmm?

Thanks!!!!!


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Thanks steve

I can't belive I missed those two bolts

Sheesh

A 5 minute deal

Now on to the pilot bearing and i can put this thing back together


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eaj71 said:
1980 fj40 2f
Here is a picture of the rear main seal. Still installed. To remove this must the bolts at both sides be removed at 4 and 8 o clock or am I missing something.

Does the pilot bearing gave to be out first. Although I don't think so

Thanks




View attachment 928126


...via IH8MUD app
Click to expand...

Poser, can I take from these photos that you can’t damage the rear seal when pulling the tranny?

I just pulled my tranny and it wasn’t the smoothest operation ever. It pulled back and inch or two pretty straight but once I was able to get the tower to clear the tunnel hole, i basically lost control and it dropped and slid to the right. I was able to get it back up and somewhat level, but it eventually just rolled and dropped (thud)! I was only using a large floor Jack, which wasn’t well positioned and clearly wasn’t enough.

I don’t think it damaged the Tranny(?). Thoughts?

My concern is what could I have damaged getting it out? Clutch? Throwout Bearing? Suggestions on what I should be looking for?

Thanks, Ron
 
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