Rear main seal drip

[Xposure]

hey guys, I read the how too on here about replacing the rear main seal and it looks like you do it from the oil pan and don’t have to drop the transmission. Every Jeep I’ve looked at has had between 115k-130k miles and all are a bit oily from the rear main seal. Once you see where it’s looking a little oily and there are a few drips on the concrete over the course of a week....from that point how long is it before it’s a serious problem and needs replacement?

In other words, does it progress fast or slow?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Mine recently started that RMS seal leak too but fortunately it's not to the point it's actually dripping on the ground. I found a pretty good writeup for replacing iit at http://www.dailydriventj.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=811 that I'll refer to when it's time to do mine. I'm just not quite ready to crawl under the Jeep again to do a RMS replacement after just having repaired the automatic transmission a couple weeks ago.

 

[Xposure]

Well hey I hear that, I sure wouldn’t want to tackle a RMS right after a transmission repair job!

So no general thoughts out there on how long one will last once it’s started to barely leak? I’m hoping I don’t need to address this right away after buying one. The Jeep I’m most focused on doesn’t just sit there dripping but rather just gets kind of oily and over some time builds up enough to make a drip. I’m hoping it progresses very slowly....some cars can run like this for several years before it’s a constant drip...but I’ve never had a Jeep. I do like the fact that it can be dealt with from the oil pan and don’t have to remove the trans!

 

[Chris]

So no general thoughts out there on how long one will last once it’s started to barely leak?

Could last a month, could last 3 years. Seriously, I mean that too. I've seen TJs that leaked from the RMS for years without ever getting much worse, and I've seen ones that started leaking slowly, and then were spewing oil a month later.

There's no way at all to accurately gauge how long it will last. The best thing to do is simply replace it as soon as the time and money permits. The how-to on how to replace the RMS can be found here as well: Rear Main Seal Replacement (4.0)

A leaky rear main seal wouldn't keep me from buying a TJ though. It's a very, very common issue on them, and it's not that difficult to replace.

 

[Xposure]

Could last a month, could last 3 years. Seriously, I mean that too. I've seen TJs that leaked from the RMS for years without ever getting much worse, and I've seen ones that started leaking slowly, and then were spewing oil a month later.

There's no way at all to accurately gauge how long it will last. The best thing to do is simply replace it as soon as the time and money permits. The how-to on how to replace the RMS can be found here as well: Rear Main Seal Replacement (4.0)

A leaky rear main seal wouldn't keep me from buying a TJ though. It's a very, very common issue on them, and it's not that difficult to replace.

What is the mileage range where this becomes a typical issue?

 

[cliffish]

I have thinking about this as well...I did the "other stuff" to determine if it was actually the RMS...what I mean on my 05 is I did the valve cover gasket, removed the torque converter cover and cleaned it and re-torqued the oil pan. It took about 2 weeks and it started to drip...maybe a drop per night. I am not sure when to pull the trigger and get it done? does it ever "let go"? at what point do you do it? I will not wait until it turns into the perpetual oil change.

 

[Chris]

What is the mileage range where this becomes a typical issue?

That's the thing, there isn't one. Some of them last 10k miles, others last 200k miles... seriously. No rhyme or reason, just one of those things where they go when they want to.

 

[Stockli]

Wait.

Before you go crazy about the rms, feel the very back of the head and inspect the oil filter area. Many times a Valve cover leak looks like an rms leak.

Trust me on this. Valve covers on eeps suck ass and leak over time especially if your CCV system is not squeaky clean.

 

[Xposure]

Wait.

Before you go crazy abou the rms, feel the very back of the head and inspect the oil filter area. Many times a valvcover leak looks like and rms leak.

Trust me on this. Valve covers on keeps suck ass and leak over time especially if your CCV system is not squeaky clean.

I will certainly check that out. Thanks for the tip!