Jeep rear main seal finally kicked the bucket

[jeep-N-montero]

Driving down the freeway late this afternoon I look in the mirrors to see smoke coming out the back, so I pull over to inspect the Jeep and the small trailer in tow. Lo and behold it was from oil dripping onto the exhaust between the engine and transmission, added a bit of oil and drove it home in a cloud of smoke.

So my question is, who has replaced their seal and how involved was it? Will I need a tranny jack? Anyone want to make some extra money helping me with it?

 

[DOSS]

http://bit.ly/jlqhBR

 

[Silly Willy]

http://bit.ly/jlqhBR

I've never seen that before... very awesome!!!

 

[Herzog]

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?t=47576

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?t=79309

Overall, it's not too bad. You don't have to pull the engine or even remove the trans. The hardest part is getting the upper half of the old seal out and getting the new one in smoothly. The rest of the job just burns up a lot of time.

 

[RockChucker]

i did mine not too long ago. it was easier than i expected. i had to take my head pipe off and then lower the oil pan. i used a small screwdriver to get the old upper seal started and then when it was poking out the other side, i grabbed it with needle nose pliers and pulled it out. just be careful not to scratch your crank.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I started wiping things down to get started earlier and it is ATF leaking down from somewhere. Taking it to the shop who rebuilt it in the morning, 14k miles is far too soon for a seal to go bad if quality parts were used.

 

[offroadlogan]

14 Miles is to soon if any new parts where used.

 

[kmboren]

I had a problem with leaking ATF before. If I was pulling a hill and the jeep got warmer the ATF would get warmer and start to come out the overflow vent which is were you are talking about. You mentioned you were pulling a trailer so this is Very likely. Have you Recently checked or added ATF fluid? I had and must have over filled it. Once it burned off to a good level I have not had the problem since. I would not worry about it unless your ATF is low. I thought I had a problem and keep adding ATF and it kept leaking out which only lead to it overflowing with the heat and leaking. It does create a very nice smoke screen when it gets going. Good Luck

 

[rholbrook]

I would get it checked out for sure before the shop that rebuilt it tells you it's too late. Too many miles.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I had a problem with leaking ATF before. If I was pulling a hill and the jeep got warmer the ATF would get warmer and start to come out the overflow vent which is were you are talking about. You mentioned you were pulling a trailer so this is Very likely. Have you Recently checked or added ATF fluid? I had and must have over filled it. Once it burned off to a good level I have not had the problem since. I would not worry about it unless your ATF is low. I thought I had a problem and keep adding ATF and it kept leaking out which only lead to it overflowing with the heat and leaking. It does create a very nice smoke screen when it gets going. Good Luck

The trailer weighed all of 182 lbs. And to rule this out I let it warm up while parked yesterday and watched for the leak, sure enough after about 7 minutes of idling the drip came down and the fluid is at the lower part of the "OK" section of the dipstick. I have hauled 4k lbs on a few occasions since the rebuild and never had an issue. I have a heavy duty cooling setup and large tranny cooler as well to avoid any heat problems.

I'm heading down in a few to drop it off to the shop.