Rear Main Pain!

[ForOffRoadDriving]

my ranger project is kicking my ass! i rebuilt my 94' 3.0l about 6 months ago, while i was building the truck, and now that ive got everything back together im having trouble keeping oil in my engine. when i start it up i get a steady drip of oil coming from my rear main seal. i bought some tracerline oil dye and poured it in the oil so that i could easily pin point the leak, and it worked great. with the UV glasses and black light i could tell my oil leak was defineatly coming from my rear main, so i pulled the trans off and removed the pressure plate, clutch and flywheel. there was a noticeable amount of oil sprayed on the back (engine side) of the flywheel as well as along the rear of the oil pan. I cleaned up the dye, removed and inspected the sea for tears or cuts along the lip and found none so i installed the new seal and hooked everything back up. i was excited to finally drive it so cranked it over again, only to watch the oil drip out again. once again i crawled under the truck with my light and found more ooil with dye in it. I started getting frustrated so i let it sit for a week while i thought on it. on saturday i pulled it back apart and removed the seal, and once again, there were no signs of a tear or cut in the seals lip. i then inspected the end of the crankshaft and noticed a small spot of rust and i could visibly see a groove that went all the way around the crank, im thinking this is where the original seal sat for the first 200,000 miles of service. I took some 320 grit emry cloth and polished the crank surface to get rid of the small spot of rust and then installed the seal all the way in, until it bottomed out. I shined my flashlight on the crank and could see that the seal was now behind the groove, so i figured i was in the clear. this time i only installed the trans and the starter, leaving the y pipe and catalytic converter off as well as the drive shaft. i started it up only to watch it leak again. THIS SHIT is getting OLD! ill post up some pictures for you guys, and hopefully you can give me some ideas. our machinist suggested a plugged up PCV system, but im pretty sure i replaced all hoses and the valve when i rebuilt the motor. im going to check things out tonight and hopefully theres just a hose that blocked causing too much crank case pressure and it just runs out of the seal as a result?

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

oh yea, my autometer gauge reads 65PSI at idle, is this what i should be seeing for oilpressure?

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres some pictures of the dye and the end of the crankshaft

this is how big of a puddle it will leave if it runs for 3 minutes

 

[04 EDGE]

fel-pro makes repair sleeves that slip over the crankshaft hub. sounds like you need one, or your bearings are shot and the crankshaft is flopping around

 

[Beef52751]

we put silicone around the outside of the rear main at the engine shop i work at to prevent that problem, but you may need a repair sleeve to completly fix it. Also 65 PSI at idle is probally because it has fresh bearings in it and they arent worn in yet, but 65PSI isnt to far out of line any way.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks for the suggestions guys. i realized the other day when i was playing with my light and the glasses that the clevitte assembly lube i was using glows with the UV light, so the oil around the outside of the seal isnt actually engine oil running out. this is very frustrating!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i cant seem to find where felpro list a sleeve n seal kit for the rear main seal. i found the kit for the timing cover seal but luckily its not leaking there.

 

[Hawk1339]

How about this...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3828/is_200101/ai_n8942201/

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i was actually just talking to a tech from the auto repair shop next door and he said the same thing about the bolts, that on certain years (early 80s) the heads of the main cap bolts would break off and the cap would fall down. he also suggested using a genuine ford seal. ive been using fel pro seals, which are actually national seals, but im not totally convinced its a seal. i havent completely pulled the trans for the 4th time yet, so im going to re install the bellhousing bolts and starter and see it the oil cap trick doesnt stop it or at least slow it down. thank you for all of your input guys, this site truly is 1 of a kind!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

well the removing the oil cap didnt help the leak any, so im looking into either getting the "special tool" to install the seal or pulling the engine out and dropping the pan off on the stand and checking everyting out again.

 

[slycer2002]

At least you can be happy your rear seal trouble is happening close to home. When the rear main seal blew out of my 92 3.0, I was only about 200 miles or so into the 2100 mile drive home. In the middle of nowhere, at that. So, be happy about something. Sorry I don't have anything to offer except some half-assed encouragement, but good luck anyway!