Retorque for rear main seal leak

[dkmcgowan]

This is on my 4.0L 89 Comanche...

 

I had a friend while doing some other work for me replace the RMS...  He said it did have some marks on it and it could leak, but he tried to clean it up and smooth it out.

 

It worked for a couple of weeks and now it's leaking.

 

I had read on here to re-torque everything after a few heat cycles.

 

What all could you re-torque?  The only thing you could get to would be the oil pan bolts right?  The bearing cap you couldn't reach could you right?

 

I'm planning to attempt to re-torque this weekend and see if I get lucky.

[Minuit]

Did he not replace the RMS? Where is it leaking from?

 

If your friend didn't replace the half-moon thing on the back of the oil pan it's very likely it will leak.

[dkmcgowan]

It was replaced, I'm just talking about what all should you re-torque, just oil pan bolts? How much?

[Eagle]

It was replaced, I'm just talking about what all should you re-torque, just oil pan bolts? How much?

 

To replace the rear main seal, you have to remove the rear main bearing cap. That's the part for which torque is critical. You have to do it right -- I've never heard of anyone dropping an oil pan to re-torque a main bearing cap. That's nuts.

[dkmcgowan]

That's what I thought... it was in another thread where someone was talking about after a couple of heat cycles you should re-torque things, which made no sense to me...

 

I will check the oil pan bolts and make sure they are not loose, doubt that has anything to do with it, and then make sure it's not the oil filter adapter, crossing fingers it is, otherwise it's that darn seal...

 

valve cover is good, replaced it and it seems to be holding up pretty well.

[Minuit]

Do you know what type of seal was used? There is a double-lip seal available (it's the Fel-Pro one) that seals more reliably.

 

Do you see a semicircle shaped piece of metal going across very back of the oil pan? It's there for a reason - to put more pressure on the very back part of the oil pan gasket where there are no bolts. If it's not there it will cause a leak.

 

I know of no retorquing done after the fact for anything other than lug nuts. Check for loose bolts. Also check for oil running down the block from elsewhere and dripping at the RMS area.