Why is my rear main leaking!?
04-30-2009, 09:19 AM
#1
Why is my rear main leaking!? Well for some of you who have been following my H/C 6.0 buildup I have come so close to finishing it off but these oil leaks are killing me and putting a halt on everything.
The first time I started the car it ran great but was leaking a good amount of oil from the bellhousing/rear of motor area. I checked the oil pressure sending unit and other common places before breaking down and pulling the trans to find the leak was indeed the rear main seal. I then replaced the seal and the rear cover gasket and felt 100% sure everything went on correctly. Seeing as I had a new reverse lipped seal I pushed it into the cover below the surface and everything and it seemed to go on the crank very nicely. One thing I noted while doing this was the the gasket came from GM with some lube on it and I installed it that way as well, I also did not see a need to drop the oil pan because it didn't affect the centering of the seal any and we had a tight seal around the whole way.
After putting the car back together I now still have a leak which is probably half as bad but a leak is a leak nonetheless and I need to fix it. My question is why is the rear main leaking again? Are there any other possibilities? I checked the oil plug in the crank while the cover was off and inside the crank was bone dry so I left it as it was. I also have a brand new oil pan gasket installed so I don't see that being the problem. I really just need lots of input on whats happening because I'm at my whits end pulling this trans again and if I do need to replace the seal I want it to be the LAST time. On that note I have also heard of people putting the newer style seals in backwards and having good luck what do you think about this? Please help me.
The first time I started the car it ran great but was leaking a good amount of oil from the bellhousing/rear of motor area. I checked the oil pressure sending unit and other common places before breaking down and pulling the trans to find the leak was indeed the rear main seal. I then replaced the seal and the rear cover gasket and felt 100% sure everything went on correctly. Seeing as I had a new reverse lipped seal I pushed it into the cover below the surface and everything and it seemed to go on the crank very nicely. One thing I noted while doing this was the the gasket came from GM with some lube on it and I installed it that way as well, I also did not see a need to drop the oil pan because it didn't affect the centering of the seal any and we had a tight seal around the whole way.
After putting the car back together I now still have a leak which is probably half as bad but a leak is a leak nonetheless and I need to fix it. My question is why is the rear main leaking again? Are there any other possibilities? I checked the oil plug in the crank while the cover was off and inside the crank was bone dry so I left it as it was. I also have a brand new oil pan gasket installed so I don't see that being the problem. I really just need lots of input on whats happening because I'm at my whits end pulling this trans again and if I do need to replace the seal I want it to be the LAST time. On that note I have also heard of people putting the newer style seals in backwards and having good luck what do you think about this? Please help me.
05-04-2009, 01:25 PM
#6
Its possible the rear cover was not alignmed properly for sure, I did not use any of the gm tools we just did it by eye. This time around I'm going to use both GM tools to center tha rear cover, bolt that down, and then install the seal.
