Anyone ever do a rear main seal (YJ 4.0)

[jeff krause]

How hard is it to install a new rear main seal on a 4.0 ?

Total time ??

Difficulty ???

GHetting REALLY tired on drippping on the driveway ... nice little drops of oil (not tranny fluid) from the bellhousing....... not the valve cover FYI

Jeff

[SavageSun4x4]

Not diffcult at all.

Expect it to take a few hours.

I will be doing one this Friday over at Performance Offroad www.performanceoffroad.org on Catcus if you want to come and watch. I will also be posting pics and a writeup sometime next week if you can not make it.

[Tom Schenk]

http://www.photodump.com/direct/tomschenk/rms.jpg

[jeff krause]

I don't have to remove the tranny for this though do I????

[SavageSun4x4]

No!

[1toughxj]

Here is a write up on the rear main.

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

[Antman]

Here is a write up on the rear main.

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

Thanks Ben. My 4.0L has 197,000 miles on it and the rear is just starting to weep. :( :)

[rvisokey]

Replaced mine twice. Only got 10-15k out of each so I just gave up. 170K+ so I figure it's just gonna leak no matter what.

[roger]

As always, make sure it's not your valve cover that's leaking before tackling the rear main seal. Valve covers loosen up and leak and the oil drips down the back side of the motor creating the appearance of a rear main leak.

[Gasman]

As always, make sure it's not your valve cover that's leaking before tackling the rear main seal. Valve covers loosen up and leak and the oil drips down the back side of the motor creating the appearance of a rear main leak.

Ditto. I would say check to make sure it's not the valve cover first. Feel around the back of the VC where it meets the block. If it's wet then replace the VC gasket (much easier then a rear main), degrease, power wash well, and see if the drip goes away. I highly reccommend the FelPro PermaDry gasket. It's pricey but specifically engineered to end leaky 4.0 VC gaskets. Put one on mine a few years ago and VC has been leak free for the first time in 10 years.

[door3]

I did mine with someone watching over me.
I am a better golfer than mechanic and a better drinker than golfer (you figure that one out!)
It took me about 4 hours, but i was learning along the way.
Some suggestions-
Wear a hat!
Find someone with a vehicle lift
Carb cleaner and lots of rags
Little tiny screw driver to help the old upper seal out of it's hiding space!

Once you drain all that oil out of the bottom, it's gonna be thirsty when your filling it up- plan on a quart more!
It's not that tough, just go slow and remember where you put your bolts!

[azdesertrhino]

Hardest part when I did the one on our 90 XJ was getting the old upper section to move. Once that part was done everything fell in to place nicely.

Use the 1 piece oil pan gasket, it makes it a lot easier.

[Tom Jacobson]

Anyone done an automatic?

The service advisor manuals (those books of standard time to do repairs that shops/dealers use to quote) quote a pretty significant difference between rear main replacement depending on manual or auto tranny.

Sorry, Jeff...guess which is quoted as more difficult?

Tom

[jeff krause]

Anyone done an automatic?

The service advisor manuals (those books of standard time to do repairs that shops/dealers use to quote) quote a pretty significant difference between rear main replacement depending on manual or auto tranny.

Sorry, Jeff...guess which is quoted as more difficult?

Tom


Betting on the Automatic............................

[azdesertrhino]

Mine was an automatic. I think the FSM recommended taking loose motor mounts, jacking up the engine , replace tail lights etc etc (you get the picture). Didn't have to do all that, especially the tail lights!:D

[jeff krause]

bringing this thread back again,

4.0 AUTOMATIC. (3 sp) whats involved in the Rewar main seal replacement.. It the procedure the same for manuals and autos...... Time to replace cause I gotta nice little getting worse leak....

JEff