Rear main seal
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 2
From: NW Florida
Year: 1999
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I concur, that's a bad idea. Just keep at it with a punch and a hammer. MAKE SURE the punch is on the metal part and hit one side and then the other. The last one I did was the hardest I've ever had too (strange that a 99 was worse than a 91 and 92) and I was getting a little panicky, but just kept hitting one side and then the other and eventually it budged.
Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 193
Likes: 0
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.o
I concur, that's a bad idea. Just keep at it with a punch and a hammer. MAKE SURE the punch is on the metal part and hit one side and then the other. The last one I did was the hardest I've ever had too (strange that a 99 was worse than a 91 and 92) and I was getting a little panicky, but just kept hitting one side and then the other and eventually it budged.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 515
Likes: 1
From: ogden, utah
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: l6
Originally Posted by 4Doors
I concur, that's a bad idea. Just keep at it with a punch and a hammer. MAKE SURE the punch is on the metal part and hit one side and then the other. The last one I did was the hardest I've ever had too (strange that a 99 was worse than a 91 and 92) and I was getting a little panicky, but just kept hitting one side and then the other and eventually it budged.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 2
From: NW Florida
Year: 1999
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
On one of mine I loosened a couple of the main bearing caps which will drop the crank ever so slightly and give a little more space.
Seasoned Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
From: Sierra Vista AZ
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
If it was as easy as just grabbing it with a pair of pliers,wouldn't we all do it that way. Once it starts moving out THEN you can grab it with pliers,until then,in my experience,there's just no room or way to grab the upper rear main seal.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 2
From: NW Florida
Year: 1999
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
NOOOOOO!!! Actually yes, you do use something, but not rubber cement! Use just a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of RTV when putting it back together. This is important and I regret that I didn't capture it in my video, but it is important that you just put a dab on the ends of the lower seal where it will contact the ends of the upper seal. If you put too much so that it squishes out into the metal cap, you will get a leak. It may not leak much, but it will leak. Your instincts will tell you to use more than you need because it's such a small amount that you're putting on, but you just need that drop to join the upper and lower halves together, that's it.
Thread Starter
CF Veteran
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,613
Likes: 0
From: Summerville, South Carolina
Year: 99
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Originally Posted by 4Doors
NOOOOOO!!! Actually yes, you do use something, but not rubber cement! Use just a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of RTV when putting it back together. This is important and I regret that I didn't capture it in my video, but it is important that you just put a dab on the ends of the lower seal where it will contact the ends of the upper seal. If you put too much so that it squishes out into the metal cap, you will get a leak. It may not leak much, but it will leak. Your instincts will tell you to use more than you need because it's such a small amount that you're putting on, but you just need that drop to join the upper and lower halves together, that's it.
Thread Starter
CF Veteran
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,613
Likes: 0
From: Summerville, South Carolina
Year: 99
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Originally Posted by 4Doors
If you put too much so that it squishes out into the metal cap, you will get a leak. It may not leak much, but it will leak.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 2
From: NW Florida
Year: 1999
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I think it's 80 ft/lbs that you torque those bolts to, so metal on metal is all you need. Trust me here, I did it wrong once and got to enjoy doing it again, and that was the only thing I did differently the second time and it sealed it.
Thread Starter
CF Veteran
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,613
Likes: 0
From: Summerville, South Carolina
Year: 99
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Originally Posted by 4Doors
I think it's 80 ft/lbs that you torque those bolts to, so metal on metal is all you need. Trust me here, I did it wrong once and got to enjoy doing it again, and that was the only thing I did differently the second time and it sealed it.