Rear Main seal and oil pan gasket replacement.
 

The rear seal leaks and leaves drops of oil on the floor, And the bottom end is all oily as hell..So I'm thinking of replacing the seal and the oilpan gasket this weekend, Maybe stick a new oil pump in her while i'm there too..
My problem is the motor has 200K on it and I hate to do all that work for a leak on an old motor. But I cant stand a leaking engine and I cant afford to do a complete rebuild right now. I would like to find a donor motor and build one for it so I can just do a swap when it's ready, But again the Money says NOT!...
So What to Do What To Do???

Anyway, Has anyone done this on the 4.0 ? The seal is two piece right ?? So it can be changed without pulling the tranny??

2 peice seals are realy easy to change and well worth the money in oil alone depending on how bad it leaks but im not sure if it is a 2 peice or not.

Hey......before you go through that trouble.....check one thing first....saved me a helluva headache....cause I saw a terrible mess and oil hangin from the tranny plate and all.................
Make sure your valve cover gasket isn't leaking...........that was MY issue.
I replaced the gasket....and the drips stop....seems like over time...the factory gasket fails...and the grommets loose their holding power...check this first before diving into a much more complicated fix....
Just my 2 cents.......
Scott

Here ya go, Full detailed write-up

http://www.jeepin.com/features/rearmain/

Cool, Thanks Guys !!

I will check the valve cover since it could be just running down the back of the motor !!

Thanks for the Link !

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That's an awesome write-up!


I recently started a thread on another forum and the responses that i got on replacing the Oil Pump was... don't.

After thinking about it, i had to kinda agree. Replacing the pump at 200K will give me just enough oil pressure to blast fresh oil out of just every seal and gasket imaginable, ya know?

I'm still debating on replacing the Rear Main Seal and Pan Gasket this week-end, while i have the motor torn down to replace my Header and Motor Mounts. I have a 3" lift and the motor will be jacked up already...

Might just wait 'til i replace my Front Axle in the spring, when i'll have WAY easy access to the pan. :001_unsure:



And oh yeah... i think the back of my Valve Cover is dripping oil down the back of my motor as well!

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I just replaced the two peace seal, they are not bad, just follow the directions that 1SickCherokee posted, very good directions. But I would check valve cover gasket first I have seen valve cover gasket leaking and looks like the rear seal.

What ever oil leaks you have now will be the same if you replace them pump...I would absolutly replace the pump if you have it apart. dont buy into that horse crap.....Gear pumps pick up the Unfiltered Dirty oil from the bottom of the pan.....

Thanks for your opinion, i'll add it to the several dozen that i already have. :p


:rofl:

AFAIK, the oil pump never directs pressurized oil at any seal, or gasket. The oil goes thru passages to the main and rod rearings, and lifter galley, and then splashed everywhere. There are slingers or other devices to reduce the oil that actually gets to a seal on a shaft.
Replace the pump.

True, and In most cases the oil goes to the main bearings first, And if they have a lot of clearance the oil Bleeding will limit pressure to the to top end etc. So a new pump shouldn't hurt anything....??

I know this...that is where i was going with my comment...but you just cant tell some people anything.

Pull the starter?

i have done this fix on a 90 XJ and 95 ZJ however the exhaust setup is way diff on my 01 XJ and I am unable to get to 3 or 4 of the oil pan bolts due to "pre cats" in the way just below header? anyways anyone done this to this year XJ? tips would be great. one of my oil leaks was the oil filter adaptor o-ring.

I have a 92 briarwood. I've been trying to do the rear main seal on. It has been leaking onto my exhaust and smoking. I've already replaced the valve cover gasket and the oil pressure sending unit both were leaking like crazy. That didn't fix it so I went onto the rear main. I was able to get the oil pan off with little issue and i was able to get the bottom half of the seal out no problem. Now the top half is a different story. I've used wooden dowels, punches, screwdrivers, pushing and hammering on the the wire in the top half of the seal but it still wont come out. Has any one else had this problem? If so any advice?