Motor oil finally reached the clutch

[Iron Ranger]

On my 302/T-5 setup, I got 525 miles on her and the whole time, she's been leaking oil out of the rear main seal. The seal is brand new, all of them are.

Well, the other day, I was taking a friend for a ride, and I put it into 4th gear and lanched her on the onramp, after 3 seconds or so, a huge cloud of smoke billowed out from under the truck. I went 45 MPH, and punched it in 5th gear, so not a lot of launch, but a lot of load, and she was smoking again. The leaking oil has finally gotten on the clutch and has ruined it.

How do you fix the rear main seal if it's new? My brother told me that the motor will need to be pulled out again to fix it properly.

Any ideas or hints?

Thanks.

 

[doorgunner]

this has worked before........support the rear part of the eng. oil pan.....
pull the xmsn/clutch out.......
jack up the rear of the eng. as much as possible WITHOUT busting motor mounts or other stuff.......
secure the eng. with a hoist or tie it securely to the lowest part of the hood hinges so it won't bend them or drop down!!!!!!
remove the oil pan/if it won't come completely out....lower it enough to replace the bad rear seal.....find out why the seal went bad in the first place.....replace it.....
clean the clutch with a few cans of brake cleaner.

 

[Iron Ranger]

this has worked before........support the rear part of the eng. oil pan.....
pull the xmsn/clutch out.......
jack up the rear of the eng. as much as possible WITHOUT busting motor mounts or other stuff.......
secure the eng. with a hoist or tie it securely to the lowest part of the hood hinges so it won't bend them or drop down!!!!!!
remove the oil pan/if it won't come completely out....lower it enough to replace the bad rear seal.....find out why the seal went bad in the first place.....replace it.....
clean the clutch with a few cans of brake cleaner.

Your an older guy, right? So, experience is on your side.

I heard that once oil is on the organic pad, it soaks in to it and makes it useless, but it can be saved with a couple cans of brake parts cleaner?

 

[RangerFabWorks]

just replace the friction disc. the flywheel and the pressure plate are fine. the disc isnt that expensive.

 

[Iron Ranger]

Ok, I was planning on that anyway. One other thing, if it's not the rear main seal, is there anything else back there that could leak oil?

I mean there is no oil leaking between the block-off plate and the engine, only between the blockoff plate and the bellhousing. Could an oil plug (if there is one) be loose or something?

 

[RangerFabWorks]

i know on my 350 in my impala, my valve cover gaskets were leaking and looking like a rear main seal. might wanna check that you didnt over tighten the covers.

 

[TS6034]

The rear of the intake where it seals to the block may be a possibility..

 

[Iron Ranger]

Well, it's definitly not those 2, but thanks. I think my brother and I made a breakthrough. In the rebuild box, there was a one-piece rear main seal sitting there, and I doubt that it's an extra.

So maybe, just maybe, this thing doesn't have one!!! We forgot to put it in!!! I'll find out soon, we'll see what the problem is....................

 

[v-8power]

when i bought my gasket kit it came with a 1 & 2 pc. main seal. I would think if you left it out you would'nt be able to keep oil in it.

 

[Iron Ranger]

And that's the thing, as soon as you started the truck, it would leak oil at idle, I don't know how much leaked while driving, but it was evident that it was a lot since the whole tranny/exhaust/crossmember was soaked with oil.

It's an 89 block, so it has to have a 1-piece seal in it, since anything 82 and before has a 2 piece.

My foreman had something like this happen on his chevy truck. He let a guy rebuild it for him, had a manual tranny, and soon after the test drive, the clutch smoked out because he forgot to put the seal in.

He even told me "Yeah, now that you mention it, your truck did smoke a little bit when you leave work in a hurry."

Yeah, that might be my smoking gun.

 

[Iron Ranger]

So, there's only a few possibilities of what it could be.

1. Bad, incorrectly installed, or missing rear main seal.
2. Lost oil galley plug(unlikely)
3. Crack in the block(It was magnafluxed before rebuilding, so I'm 99% sure it's not this one.)

The last 2 are unlikely because the block plate would prevent any oil getting to the clutch. The only thing between that and the open motor is the Rear main seal.

 

[wade]

We do rear main seals at the Post Office VMF (Vehicle Maint. Facility) on the the little vehicles (we call 'em LLV's) that the carriers drive. -Just like Doorgunner said -- in frame! We have a special tool to install the seals. Its a good days work for an experienced mech, so plan to take however long you think you'll need. (Not meaning to insult your intelligence - just don't know your experience.) You'll definitely want to work out a way to block up the back of the engine with the oil pan dropped (lowered).
- pull the drive shaft
- pull the tranny (a jack with a block of wood under the engine oil pan might work, until it comes time to lower the pan.)
- remove the bell housing, clutch assembly, and flywheel
Now is where you'll need to figure out where to block the engine, so you can remove the oil pan. Might consider a piece of 2X4 between one of the heads and the firewall.
(pay attention to what's going on at the front of the engine, too.)
Do you have air? And, an impact? Could come in handy removing the flywheel bolts. Remember proper torque specs during re-assembly.

 

[fordmike1]

If your engine is an 89 you will not need to drop the oil pan. Just pull the trans, flywheel and block plate and you will see the rear main seal. Check the crank real good to make sure its not grooved where the seal rides on it and if it is you will need to get a sleeve or off set seal to repair it. here is a pic of a 5.0 rear main seal.

A pic I found on the net

 

[Iron Ranger]

Thanks!!

I got some good news. My brother found out that the smoke that billows out under load was actually a blown valve cover gasket. He saw oil all over the header, transmission, and the crossmember. Going to repair and inspect this weekend.

But there is a leak in there somewhere because this started before the valve cover gasket ordeal and the whole inside of the bellhousing is layered with oil and shoe dust.

With your help, we'll figure it out!!!

 

[wade]

If your engine is an 89 you will not need to drop the oil pan.

I was scratchin' my head as I made my previous post. "Ya' know, he may not need to drop the pan." Thanks, Mike! Its been a bit since I've had the back of the block exposed.