Jay
Jay Dork
11/1/09 4:13 p.m.

So, ya, this thread is probably as retarded as it sounds. I noticed lately that I've been getting some leakage from the rear main seal. It's nothing bad (yet) but it will leave several noticable drips on the ground after taking the car for a hard drive and then parking it. I think I lost about 1/4 litre of oil over the 2000 miles I put on it driving to England and back.

I can't afford to pay a shop to fix this, I have absolutely no place where I can drop the engine + transmission, and even if I did I don't have the tools to do it. (I do have all those things, actually - in Canada, doing me no good whatsoever. Argh.) I just want to stop the drips for now...

Is there anything I could do about this with the drivetrain still in the car? Access isn't bad underneath, but there's a crossmember that goes under the oil pan and the exhaust (which ISN'T that rusty) is in the way. How bad an idea is it to put a bead of silicon sealer around the seam between the engine/transmission? Will that cause the bellhousing to fill up with oil and ruin the clutch?

Thankfully I seem to have fixed the power steering and coolant leaks, so only engine oil is left. Argh! British cars.

alex
alex Dork
11/1/09 4:18 p.m.

That's how you know you have oil. It's supposed to do that.

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
11/1/09 4:27 p.m.

Cheapest easiest fix....check the oil more often. Think of it as continuous rust proofing.

erohslc
erohslc Reader
11/1/09 5:39 p.m.

What car? RWD or FWD?

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
11/1/09 5:39 p.m.

Now, now. That's a Japanese engine. Numbah one: make REAL sure it's a rear main leak. A lot of 'rear main seals' turn out to be 'valve cover gaskets' or 'oil pan gaskets'. There should be an access cover of some sort, take it off and look at the back of the flywheel. Oil flung outward on the flywheel indicates a rear main, if it's dry look elsewhere.

A bodge? None that I can think of. That dump in stuff for oil leaks has a nasty habit of making ALL the seals gaskets etc swell, turning a rear main into a complete engine reseal. If you are running synthetic, switch to regular ol' straight mineral, it will leak less.

hotrodlarry
hotrodlarry Reader
11/1/09 6:23 p.m.
Jensenman wrote: . If you are running synthetic, switch to regular ol' straight mineral, it will leak less.

So will running a thicker weight oil as well.

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