"Wrong" Rear Main Seal

[Miller88]

Update:

After a week cool-down period I'm ready to give it a go again.

I didn't catch any oil ports, and there shouldn't be anything to catch the seal ... should there be?

I bought a new V-R seal, same as I had before. Since both halves are the same, that's an additional 2 tries per seal. I am picking up another spare. That should give me 4 tries at it!

I tightened up the crank bearing caps. So we'll see if it goes in. I'm going to be ultra liberal with the dish soap!

 

[Digger87xj]

no dish soap!

grease!

 

[Miller88]

Would grease degrade the seal?

 

[Digger87xj]

not at all.

 

[md21722]

FWIW, the factory manual says to use dish soap. I suppose any kind of light lube would work such as Vaseline.

Don has been doing this a long time so I'm sure he will steer you right.

 

[Digger87xj]

FSM says soap are you Fn kidding me?

dish soap is for dishes.

 

[Digger87xj]

looked it up...
1. Wipe the seal surface area of the crankshaft until it is clean.
2. Apply a thin coat of engine oil.
3. Coat lip of the seal with engine oil.
4. Carefully position the upper seal into the groove in the cylinder block. The lip of the seal faces toward the front of the engine.
5. Place the lower half of the seal into bearing cap (No.7) (Fig. 57).
6. Coat the outer curved surface of the lower seal with soap and the lip of the seal with engine oil (Fig. 57).
7. Apply Mopar (R) Gasket Maker sealer on both sides of cylinder block as shown in (Fig. 58). The dab of sealer should be 3 mm (0.125 inch) in diameter.
8. Position the lower seal into the bearing cap recess and seat it firmly. Be sure the seal is flush with the cylinder block pan rail.
9. Apply Mopar (R) Gasket Maker on the rear bearing cap (Fig. 58). The bead should be 2.3 mm (0.09inch)in diameter. DO NOT apply sealer to the lip of the seal.
10. Install the rear main bearing cap. DO NOT strike the cap more than twice for proper engagement.
11. Tighten all main bearing bolts to 108 Nm (80 ft. lbs.) torque.
12. Install the main bearing cap brace. Tighten nuts to 47 Nm (35 ft. lbs.).
13. Install the oil pan gasket and oil pan. Tighten 114 - 20 screws to 14 Nm (120 inch lbs.). Tighten 5/16 - 18 screws to 18 Nm (156 inch lbs.).
14. Install transmission inspection cover.

So .. soap on the lower half outer curve... very odd.

 

[Miller88]

I still find it odd that the FSM calls for RTV on the bearing cap.

But, sure enough, my 2000 FSM has that and shows it on the diagram.

I think I am in 'freak out' mode. I have done this before with no issues and it was something relatively simple and hard to screw up. So I'm a bit worried about why this one is giving me problems.

 

[Miller88]

Got it!

Now I just need to buy another set of starter bolts. Lost them

 

[md21722]

looked it up...
1. Wipe the seal surface area of the crankshaft until it is clean.
2. Apply a thin coat of engine oil.
3. Coat lip of the seal with engine oil.
4. Carefully position the upper seal into the groove in the cylinder block. The lip of the seal faces toward the front of the engine.
5. Place the lower half of the seal into bearing cap (No.7) (Fig. 57).
6. Coat the outer curved surface of the lower seal with soap and the lip of the seal with engine oil (Fig. 57).
7. Apply Mopar (R) Gasket Maker sealer on both sides of cylinder block as shown in (Fig. 58). The dab of sealer should be 3 mm (0.125 inch) in diameter.
8. Position the lower seal into the bearing cap recess and seat it firmly. Be sure the seal is flush with the cylinder block pan rail.
9. Apply Mopar (R) Gasket Maker on the rear bearing cap (Fig. 58). The bead should be 2.3 mm (0.09inch)in diameter. DO NOT apply sealer to the lip of the seal.
10. Install the rear main bearing cap. DO NOT strike the cap more than twice for proper engagement.
11. Tighten all main bearing bolts to 108 Nm (80 ft. lbs.) torque.
12. Install the main bearing cap brace. Tighten nuts to 47 Nm (35 ft. lbs.).
13. Install the oil pan gasket and oil pan. Tighten 114 - 20 screws to 14 Nm (120 inch lbs.). Tighten 5/16 - 18 screws to 18 Nm (156 inch lbs.).
14. Install transmission inspection cover.

So .. soap on the lower half outer curve... very odd.

I wonder what year this is from? The torque specs for the oil pan are 84 and 132 in-lbs 1997-2001 FSM.

 

[Digger87xj]

'99

 

[Miller88]

Wow! No leaks! Ran it pretty hard yesterday. 250 miles round trip to an offroading event. I was half expecting it to scatter for some reason haha!

Unexpected result - the engine no longer knocks. I'm really confused.