I’ve been noticing oil weeping from the oil pan for quite a while now. Pretty sure it’s the oil pan itself and not the gasket. Is it worth replacing main seal at same time? Not sure if it’s bad or not.
Is it worth replacing the rear main seal with oil pan?
- Thread starter DustinfromOhio
- Start date
I wouldn’t touch the RMS unless I knew 100% sure it was leaking, but many others will say do both if you are in there. Just a matter of what you want to tackle. I have a very slow leak from my oil pan as well, however it’s my gasket. Initially I nudged some bolts about a 1/4 turn and they slowed it down. Some were very loose and required more. It has made the leak far better, sadly I have to take mine to a shop and have it done, because I’m not cutting the custom exhaust and rewelding it!
OP
Per @Lou's comment, if you're that far in you might as well replace it. If your miles were higher I'd say do an oil pump. However, at 120K, unless your oil pressure is showing low, I'd just do the RMS.
OP
I will get slaughtered for this but why dont you try "BlueDevil Rear Main Sealer" and if it works you know its the RMS and can fix it at leisure. lots of TJ owners use it with what seems like a high success rate!
But if you are a believer in only using what the manufactures recommends on a vehicle that's way past its manufacturers expected life then just change it
But if you are a believer in only using what the manufactures recommends on a vehicle that's way past its manufacturers expected life then just change it
This isn't necessarily a bad idea. There have been folks who have had good results with seal softeners. Also, some say switching to conventional only high mileage oil helps (if you're running synthetic or blend oil). In the end, the two piece seal design introduces a higher probability of leaks.I will get slaughtered for this but why dont you try "BlueDevil Rear Main Sealer" and if it works you know its the RMS and can fix it at leisure. lots of TJ owners use it with what seems like a high success rate!
But if you are a believer in only using what the manufactures recommends on a vehicle that's way past its manufacturers expected life then just change it
Doing the RMS isn't a hard job. The worst part is usually dropping the exhaust, so you can remove the pan. If you do tackle the job, just be sure to install the seal correctly and follow the factory recommendations for sealing it, per figure 49 below.
OP
I recently had oil weeping from my oil pan, and thought it was the RMS. I was going to change the RMS, but then asked myself why change if it is not leaking? This is not preventative maintenance, and hopefully the RMS will never need to be changed (knocking on wood).
Do you have an automatic transmission? While your in this deep, look at your automatic transmission cooling lines, and replace them while the exhaust header is off.
OP
OP
Honestly my oil pan is leaking enough that I’m not really sure what all is leaking lol
Ha, I thought it was my RMS but it was the valve cover, rear elbow on top of the valve cover and the pan itself. Check the valve cover and two elbows on top.
Theres a lot of things to unbolt besides the oil pan in order to change the rms. I would first re tight the oil pan bolts. They come loose after some time and oil might leak. Also retight the valve cover ones. If the leak is still after that, then i would think of the rms.
kenosha whiz six
TJ Enthusiast
I’ve talked to couple of mechanic guys,we all know them,th guys tht know and they say: never crack an original engine open,top to bottom,side to side,unless so to speak so?a rear main seal leakin has to leak ALOT before you change tht sht