Rear Main Seal?

[Dr.Evil]

I have recently noticed a smallish leak comming from the trans side of the motor and it has a dark greyness to it, kind of like grease. (I think it is clutch material) Also, I have noticed the clutch has been slipping during takeoff in first gear. The clutch is only a year old. So I have a feeling it is the front main seal leaking. I had the rear seal done last summer and it was shot, so unfortunatly I think the front is too.
What is involved in replacing this? Is it something I can do lying in the garage or is it beyond that? I know the trans has to be removed and I am sure that is not an easy task. If it is not the main seal, what else could it be? I checked the pan seal and valve cover seals, and they are fine. The trans fluid is nice and clean also.
Does it sound like the clutch will need to be replaced?
This Sucks. headbang

<small>[ January 08, 2004, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Dr.Evil ]</small>

 

[fricker66]

Uh, I believe you have the orientation reversed. The rear main seal is on the transmission end of the engine. The front main is on the accessory side of the engine.

An oil leak on the transmission side of the engine could indicate a failure of the rear main or rear carrier gasket seal. Were either of these two items replaced when doing the recent clutch replacement? It is also possible that the oil pan seal is leaking as well. Any type of warranty on the install? If not, just keep an eye on the oil level. There's quite a bit of labor involved to fix that oil leak.........

What type of clutch was installed? On different cars I have seen where a leaking rear main would cause the clutch to slip. I have not seen or heard about this with the SHO setup. This is quite possibly two distinct "problems." frown

<small>[ January 08, 2004, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: fricker66 ]</small>

 

[Bizzy]

Oil on the disk will cause the clutch to slip. To my understanding, once oil gets on the disk the disk will then need to be replaced and shouldn't be reused. Speaking totally from what I've read and heard so I could be wrong.

 

[Dr.Evil]

Could oil make it from the seal to the disc? I mean, does'nt that sheld prevent that or is that just to keep junk from getting onto the flywheel from the road?

I guess this is a good time to install the Fidenza

 

[projectSHO89]

It would take a very significant leak for oil to get onto the clutch disk proper.

As for the gray paste/ooze, that's a clutch dust milkshake. Combination of dust, oil, and water.

Steve

<small>[ January 09, 2004, 07:44 AM: Message edited by: projectSHO89 ]</small>

 

[SHOMurph]

Unless you dumping a good amount of oil from the rear seal...I'd just top it off unless you have a sudden desire to pull the tranny. Drive it until the clutch goes out then change it.

My ATX has a small rear main seal leak. I check the oil everytime I fuel up.

 

[NetNinja]

LOL "Clutch Dust Milkshake"!

That would make a great Steak N Shake commercial.

I'll have one of those!

 

[Dr.Evil]

NetNinja:
LOL "Clutch Dust Milkshake"!

That would make a great Steak N Shake commercial.

I'll have one of those!

You can have mine...

 

[fricker66]

Is it only slipping in 1st gear? If oil had gotten on the disk surface I'd expect slippage in all gears. Have you checked the adjustment on the clutch cable?

 

[autobahnsho]

That doesn't sound like fun at all!

If the rear main goes, the flywheel would be in the way for engine oil to get on the disc.

What you see is the pressure plate, the disc is inside. The pp is mounted to the flywheel, which you can see has the teeth on the lower left hand side. It bolts up so that there isn't a lot of room for oil to get from the engine to the disc, but it would be all over the pp.

You can pop the starter off and see the teeth on the flywheel. Just takes a minute.. (or 60)

 

[Zap]

The flywheel would be in the way of the rear main, but not in the way completely of the rear main carrier. When I pulled the tranny on the '95, I discovered that the rear main and the carrier gasket were leaking, not to mention pan seal. I believe this caused the premature failure of the clutch. When I got it, the pedal was a bit firm, but it got worse, and finally the disc started slipping. When I pulled the parts, the bearing was gummed up and the PP had all fingers intact, but a groove worn into them. The disc's material was almost all gone (it was slipping for a while before I got around to this procedure). Since I need new oil pan seals, I will be doing rod bearings when I replace all of the seals!

 

[billyshoe]

Contrary to popular belief, the rear seal is not a common leak, rather the oil pan corners & ends are the notorious leaks.

 

[Dr.Evil]

Well I think I fixed it. I couple weeks ago I had my intake off and noticed how dirty it had gotten from just 6 months of use, so I put a makeshift filter on the PCV line under the TB using a PCV valve and a big fuel filter. Well when it started leaking I took it off and now it does not leak anymore. I do not think the filter was flowing right, causing too much pressure in the crankcase, resulting in seeping oil though the otherwise good seal. Could this be the case?