Rear main seal & clutch

[xaphan1039]

ok...so i'm dripping oil and it's making me crazy. i just spent alot of time and money working on the other side of the engine and now i'm leaking from the rear main...grr!! i got a labor quote of about $420. the seal is gonna be $50 and the clutch...$200. does anyone see any problem with a non factory seal and a torque master clutch kit which i was told is made my borg warner ( is that how it's spelled??) would anyone advise to just grin and bare it and let a shop do it? i was told the auto guide said 7hrs labor and ready a do it yourself job is about 16 hours. advice...comments...help!!
also...considering selling...89 sho in NY...any offers?? 101k and runs like a ***** ape.

 

[drivinhard]

although your rear main seal and carrier plate gasket could be leaking, chances are if you are dripping oil it's just coming from the rear oil pan seal. It will look just like a rear main is leaking, but it's a bunch easier to fix. Take off the ypipe, the starter, and drop the oil pan. Fel-pro makes a kit you can get at autozone for less than $20 that will include what you need (2 pan seals, 2 tubes RTV).

 

[xaphan1039]

too good to be true!! i'll def. look into it. the thought occured to me after sifting through some posts last night that it might be the pan gasket. when the clutch on the car was done appox. 40k ago the seal was replaced so it would seem alittle premature for it to be going, but the way my luck has been running i would'nt doubt there is a hole the size of my nostril on the block. thanx for the tip!

 

[saucy]

How hard are you kicking yourself for not installing the new main seal when that tranny was already out

 

[luigisho]

I thought it stated it was replaced with the last clutch job?

 

[xaphan1039]

i just got the pan off. i was 2 seconds away from giving up because once i got my starter out i suck my fingers in the hole by the fly wheel and they came out coated in oil. then it occured to me the plate that was there was'nt solid and it could still be a leaky pan gasket. glad i decided to keep going because now that i'm looking at it the gasket on that side is chewed to bits and some old silicone is stuck the the screen on what i'm guessing is part of my oil pump. if this turns out to actually be the problem ( which i'm now about 90% sure it is ) i think i might just have to take a big ol crap right in my pants. not that i want to, but i don't know if i'll be able to control myself. i'll post again when i'm done...hopefully without baggy pants!

 

[xaphan1039]

no oil!! thumbs_u i had to wait untill tonight to get it back together because the studs on the ****** of the exhaust manifolds lost the threads when i took off the nuts from the rust so i needed to get studs today since nobody was open on thanksgiving. i also figured out how to run fog lights when the highbeams are on and when you just have parkinglights. i'll be posting about that sooner or later when i have some time. thanx for the suggestion about the oil pan!! saved me a bundle...and saved me from selling it.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Just make sure none of that oil was taken in by the sump and that you used a seal that is not oil soluable. A friend of mine replaced his cam gear on his Grand Am and just used his dad's silicone (For sealing windows ). The car ran great until the silicon broke down and was sucked up into the pump. Now the engine is ummmmm, welll, welded into one piece. oh_my