About 5 months ago, AZPete came over to help out replacing a rear pinion seal on Midlife. Since then, the pinion seal leak was fixed, but the rear carrier leaked no matter how tight I tightened the carrier bolts. A new gasket was called for.
Meanwhile, the front oil pan was over-tightened by you-know-how and was leaking and could not be stopped. On top of that, ever since I got the car in 1998, I had an oil leak dripping down the front cover of the bell-housing, suspecting a rear main crank seal. Time to fix all of these leaks.
Today, we removed the rear pumpkin, and examined the flatness of the carrier and the housing. The housing was out of whack, about 0.003" at both the left and right sides. We used a bit of rear carrier sealant along with the gasket, tightening the bolts according to spec starting from the bottom, criss-crossing from side to side around to the top. No one in town had the replacement copper washer sealers under the bolts, so we had to re-use them.
Removed the oil pan after removing the cross-bar, the idler arm, and the starter. Found that the main crank seal was not offset, with the two halves aligned horizontally with the main bearing cap. Oops...not a good sign. Took quite a bit of effort to remove the old seals, finding that they were glued into place (WTF?). Replaced the seals, replaced the main bearing cap, installed a one-piece oil pan gasket, installed the starter, idler arm, and cross-brace. Then added oil front and rear, and took it for a spin. I'll inspect it more closely this weekend after a longer run for signs of a leak. I hope not.
The presence of a warped rear axle housing and a non-offset rear main seal was comforting, in that I now know what was causing the leaks. I hate leaks.
Meanwhile, the front oil pan was over-tightened by you-know-how and was leaking and could not be stopped. On top of that, ever since I got the car in 1998, I had an oil leak dripping down the front cover of the bell-housing, suspecting a rear main crank seal. Time to fix all of these leaks.
Today, we removed the rear pumpkin, and examined the flatness of the carrier and the housing. The housing was out of whack, about 0.003" at both the left and right sides. We used a bit of rear carrier sealant along with the gasket, tightening the bolts according to spec starting from the bottom, criss-crossing from side to side around to the top. No one in town had the replacement copper washer sealers under the bolts, so we had to re-use them.
Removed the oil pan after removing the cross-bar, the idler arm, and the starter. Found that the main crank seal was not offset, with the two halves aligned horizontally with the main bearing cap. Oops...not a good sign. Took quite a bit of effort to remove the old seals, finding that they were glued into place (WTF?). Replaced the seals, replaced the main bearing cap, installed a one-piece oil pan gasket, installed the starter, idler arm, and cross-brace. Then added oil front and rear, and took it for a spin. I'll inspect it more closely this weekend after a longer run for signs of a leak. I hope not.
The presence of a warped rear axle housing and a non-offset rear main seal was comforting, in that I now know what was causing the leaks. I hate leaks.
