Schantin

iTrader: (6)

UPDATE: Got up early and pulled the tranny, clutch and flywheel. Lots of oil in teh bellhousing. The back of the flywheel was perfectly dry though, as was the clutch

From what I saw, looked like the new seal was possibly weeping from the outboard edge at the bottom. Some moisture on the lower half of the rear cover too. Pulled the entire cover and installed a new gasket. RTV'd the entire lower edge where it meets the oil pan. Installed another new rear main seal and RTV'd the outer edges where it slides into the rear cover.

Noted a small nick/scratch on teh crank. The original GM seal sat flush, but I had "bottomed out" the new Fel-Pro seal all the way in the housing. From the looks if it, the GM seal was riding on a "clean" part of the crank, but the replacement one was in the area of the scratch.

I installed the new Fel-Pro seal flush with the outer edge of the rear cover (ie I didn't bottom it out in the housing). It appears to be sitting where the GM gasket was now. I also used the supplied Fel=Pro real main seal centering tool (the plastic disc) to ensure all was lined nicely.

Will start it up tomorrow and hope I don't have any more leaks...... Out of daylight now, so not happening today.

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

How much blowby do you have? Enough positive crankcase pressure and
every seal will weep, some. Is your PCV working?

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I am willing to bet it's the oil pan. I chased my *** on an oil leak on my car at the rear of the engine. Turned out to be the very rear corner of the oil pan.

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Not sure if it was the rear seal or the rear cover where it contacts the oil pan, but my leak is officially fixed

Thanks for all the help while I was tracking this down....

NBM99SS

iTrader: (33)

If you pull the rear cover off and don't realign it properly it will leak guaranteed. There are special alignment tools for the front and rear covers but they involve a lot of unnecessary work. I always put the cover on and snug up all the 15mm or 13mm whatever they are to the block loosely. Then I tighten down the two 10mm from the oil pan to pull it flush with the oil pan gasket. Then go ahead and tighten down the rest pushing it to the block. If you don't do it this way it will always leak.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Good to hear!

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Gave the car it's first real test since fixing the leak. 145MPH on the German Autobahn today for 8-miles straight. Not a drop afterwards

Thanks again to all those who offered their advice.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I'm going to show my ignorance here but what kind of response do you get toward your car over there? Are there many other F body's around at all?

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

It's not an ignorant Q. There are VERY few 4th Gen F-bodies in Germany. I've seen 4 others in a year, 3 of which are owned by Americans. Most Germans don't know what the hell a Camaro is. They confuse it with a Corvette, which they do seem to know about.

It gets a mixed bag of reviews. My neighbors hate it because it's "loud" and "too big". Germans hate noise and what they refer to as "American excess". (It's really envy....) The BMW owners hate that it out-accelerates and out-handles their Euro-junk and usually become enraged when I smack them down on the 'Bahn or the twisties.

On the flip side I was offered $20K Euros (about $30K dollars US) for it at a gas station in Munich last fall. In Bavaria at a ski resort the staff insisted I park in the "reserved" area with a Bentley and a Ferrari.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I laughed about the "loud and too big" they definately have that mentality in that part of the world.

I was speaking with an english gentleman one day at a bar and he kept going on about us americans and our wasteful ways, how we all feel the need to have big V8 engines and use so much fuel etc.. I didn't catch the rest I started tuning him out once he went into his whine-a-thon.

That is pretty cool about the ski resort and the offer you got on it.

I can definately see the BMW boys getting all flustered when you blast past them in your "Corvette" that costs far less and breaks down much less as well.

67SS&99SS

iTrader: (7)

OP, glad you got the leak fixed.

Silicone is not needed between the OD of the seal and the bore it is pressed into. This is an interference fit. The rubber on the OD of the seal will seal this off as long as the bore is not damaged(deep scratch, screw driver gouge..ect from removal of old seal). If it is damaged, you will have to resort to an rtv or silicone sealer, or replace the cover. Replacing the cover would be the best option. The assembly aid for the GM seals is absolutely critical for the install. This assures the sealing lip is properly oriented on the crankshaft when it is installed. I believe not using this assembly tool is the root cause for most leaks due to the fact that the sealing lip can be damaged during installation with out it. As others have mentioned proper orientation of the cover on the rear of the engine is also crucial because this ensures the seal's bore is concentric with the crankshaft.