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Any rear main seal R&R advice...

Metal Twister

Metal Twister

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Ive had it with the river running freely from under the K5. Its a 77 350 and its time to replace the rear main seal. I picked one up last night and tonight is the big adventure. I do have a 2 post lift so things wont be to bad as far as access goes. After dropping the exhaust and pan what do I need to do. Im thinking drop the rear journal and loosen the rest? Maybe a breaker bar on the crank bolt and turn slowley while working out the old seal and doing the same to get it in? Ive never replaced a two part seal so just guessing here. Any tips of secret's? Please.... :dunno:
 
Metal Twister said:
Im thinking drop the rear journal and loosen the rest? Maybe a breaker bar on the crank bolt and turn slowly while working out the old seal and doing the same to get it in? Ive never replaced a two part seal so just guessing here. Any tips of secret's? Please.... :dunno:
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You've pretty much got it covered but there is no reason to loosen any othe main caps except for the removal of the rear main cap. Make sure you install the new seal facing the correct way otherwise you will pump oil out the rear seal instead of the "leak" you currently have. One thing to remember, if the seal doesn't appear bad and isn't hard as a rock then the new seal will probably leak right away as well. The fit between the crank and main bearings if it's too loose will cause a rear main seal to leak and it is just an indication that the engine is wore out and needs a rebuild. Torque the rear main bearing cap to 70 ft/lbs when you reinstall it and if you remove the oil pump from the cap for any reason torque it to 50 ft/lbs upon install.

The 1 piece pan gasket is your best friend also so I would suggest you install one of them rather than the 4 piece type. There are several different ones depending on the year of the engine and then there is a "bastard" one which is ONLY to be used on GM crate engines that had a provision for a dipstick on either side of the block (only one dipstick hole will actually be drilled but there is a protrusion on both sides of the block and a cutout where the tube would have come through had it been drilled).
 
Hey it turned out all good. Went as advertised. An hour anhd a half and its all done and not leaking. Thanks for the reply. I didnt take any journals loose except the rear one. Went lot eaiser than expected.:thumb:
 
Metal Twister said:
Hey it turned out all good. Went as advertised. An hour anhd a half and its all done and not leaking. Thanks for the reply. I didnt take any journals loose except the rear one. Went lot eaiser than expected.:thumb:
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That is always a plus. :thumb:
 
I really appreciate the one piece gasket advice. I sprung for a nice pretty blue one. ultra thick and plush. It came with 4 little threaded platic expandable bolts. They go in the larger corner pan holes and then you slide the gasket over then and they hold everything in place. Then ya slide the pan over them and start the pan bolts. Un screw the plastic gizzies and its golden. Someone was thinking!

Again thanks for the tips... Saved me hours Im sure. I wish I would of done it months ago now. :whistle::waytogo:
 
A 87 should be a two piece seal right? I need to do mine, its gone from an occasional drop to a puddle everytime it moves.
 
Kota4bye said:
A 87 should be a two piece seal right? I need to do mine, its gone from an occasional drop to a puddle everytime it moves.
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1987 is a one piece rear main seal if it has the original engine still.
 
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