Rear main seal cost?
01-22-2018, 08:47 PM
#1
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Location: Jacksonville,NC
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Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee(XJ)
Engine: 4.0 L6
Rear main seal cost?
Has anyone replaced the rear main seal on there Cherokee if so how much did it cost you to have it replaced?
01-22-2018, 10:11 PM
#3
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Location: Groton, MA
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Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee(XJ)
Engine: I6 4.0L
The costs for parts, like Martior mentioned are trival. $10 for a seal, probably $30-40 for a new oil pan gasket and an oil change. The couple hours of labor at $100/hour on avg turn it into a $300+ job to have it done.
It's something you can do yourself if you don't mind getting dirty.
It's something you can do yourself if you don't mind getting dirty.
01-23-2018, 06:31 AM
#5
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Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
WARNING!!!!!!
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
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01-29-2018, 11:06 AM
#8
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Location: Calgary, AB
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Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee (ZJ)
Engine: 5.2
I got my Jeep cheap because a guy refused to buy it due to an oil leak and figured it was the rear main seal. $5 in o-rings and some tools I fixed the oil filter adapter and leak was gone.
01-29-2018, 11:19 AM
#9
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Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
in my case oil is leaking from pretty much everywhere, but since i already had the gaskets i might as well do it anyways, but not that hard to do if you have the proper tools
01-29-2018, 07:18 PM
#10
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Year: 1993
Model: Grand Cherokee(ZJ)
Engine: 4.0
WARNING!!!!!!
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
01-29-2018, 07:48 PM
#11
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Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Mine just started dripping some oil last week and you are right, it comes from below the RMS. But... in the short time I have had to look at the engine I can tell I have multiple slow leaks, the valve cover being one. So I am going to do as suggested and fix the easy ones first and see if it stops leaking.
01-29-2018, 07:57 PM
#12
CF Veteran
WARNING!!!!!!
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
READ THIS FIRST!!
I’d be looking up ABOVE first, and VERIFYING the source of the oil leak YOURSELF.
Everybody, who doesn’t own or have to pay for or perform your vehicle repairs, loves to poke their noggin UNDER the Jeep and come out bearing the false bad news that your RMS is leaking. Many mechanics, friends, and good old Uncle Bob seem to enjoy telling you it’s the rear main seal. Has a catastrophic ring to it, doesn’t it?
A simple leak at the back of the valve cover or other source could produce the same symptoms. You don’t need to be a mechanic to figure this out. If you have good eyesight and a dim flashlight, you’re good to go on your own. Don’t jump on the RMS/oil pan gasket bandwagon right off the bat.
Almost any oil leak on your 4.0 is gonna drip from the RMS area for two simple reasons:
First off, the engine sits nose-up and any oil will run back to the RMS area.
Secondly, the RMS area is also the lowest point on the engine. Simple physics and the old plumber’s adage apply here: “Crap flows downhill”.
Valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter adapter seals and distributor gasket, in that order, have to be eliminated as possibilities first.
Oil Leak
02-01-2018, 03:01 PM
#14
CF Veteran
I will X4 it. My "leaking rear main seal" turned out to be the oil psi sensor leaking out of where the plug goes. Then it dripped down the wiring right onto the block which ran back to the rear main seal.
04-18-2018, 09:29 AM
#15
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Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0L I6
This is awesome thank you, I have literally just posted on another thread that I am attempting to locate and fix my leaks, possibly the oil pan and RMS, however after reading this, I will swap out the others first. The RMS seems like such a PITA too, so this may have just saved me a job. Thank you to you all.