Rear main seal.

WMizell · Post by **WMizell** » 26 Jan 2005, 17:21

Okay, found this out tonight. I have a nice little oil leak between my tranny and engine block. Guessing its the rear main. Oil pressure is looking good but I am NOT going to let this leak go unchecked. Has anyone done this repair and is it as bad as it looks? I would really like to keep from having to drop the whole front sub assembly but if it comes to it I guess I will and while I am at it I'll replace the timing belt, etc too. But if any of y'all (that good southern english) seasoned vets could give me a heads up it would be appreciated.

night

WIll

Post by **matthew1** » 26 Jan 2005, 23:40

Make sure it's that. My oil return line -- if you don't have a turbo forget this theory -- leaked and it made it look like oil was leaking from everywhere/anywhere.

Also, oil cap gaskets dry out and leak down from the top.

WMizell · Post by **WMizell** » 27 Jan 2005, 04:33

yeah mine is a non-turbo 2.4L. looks like i get to drop he tranny one weekend.

do these tranmissions (automatics) have a filter in them? dumb question but I havent found one place online that sales a filter for the transmission

smithy · Post by **smithy** » 27 Jan 2005, 06:16

I feel your pain! I have a rear main seal leak too and I have for a while. The dealer told me it was from pressure oil pressure building up from a dirty flame trap, which I have been religious about cleaning ever since. This will help to keep the leak from getting worse.

I know the time has come for me to either do this repair or have it done. I'm not sure if I could handle this on my own since I don't have the tools/facilities. Does anyone know how much a good indie shop would charge for it? After the dealer quoted me there price, I had to be revived and I must have forgotten how much it was- I know it was high. Also, what's the best way to find a shop you can trust? Ask other local Volvo freaks? Or drive around and whichever shop has the most Volvos in their lot? I hate taking my car to a shop!

WMizell · Post by **WMizell** » 27 Jan 2005, 06:29

i stayed up a while last night doing some reading. all you have to do come to find out is remover your front rotors/cv axles. remove axles from tranny, disconnect all lines leading into the tranny then unbolt it. remove the flexplate in my case, extract offending seal, replace and reinstall all those parts scattered across the floor. sounds like a weekend job. might service the tranny while i have it out and replace the input and output seals on it just for the sake of convienence

TuHandy · Post by **TuHandy** » 27 Jan 2005, 15:55

WMizell,

I tooo feel your pain. I am planing on replaceing my rear main in a week or two. The leak is just getting bigger as the days go on. I was planning on droping the sub frame, but I would like to see where it says you dont have to do that. Is it possible to remove the trans with the subframe there? is there room?

Anyways can you sent a link to where you got that info.

WMizell · Post by **WMizell** » 27 Jan 2005, 15:57

I'll do it tonight. right now i am at work. I am using a chilton (sp?) manual and its just about as good as an shop manual i have seen ( i work at a ford dealership)

but i will scan and post what i can

TuHandy · Post by **TuHandy** » 27 Jan 2005, 22:37

I was just under the car again tonight, looking at what i'm in for when I attempt to replace the seal.
I drove the car today and I was still wondering if the oil leak was coming from the rear seal. I am 99% sure but i wanted to look again to rule out any other possible leaking plugs, lines, ect.
When I was under there I did not see any way to remove/move the trans out of the way so you had enough room to replace seal. I might be wrong (since I never have done this repair), but I would say the sub frame must be removed.
I too have read my Chilton manual and they say to remove the subframe.
I will keep you posted when I do the repair.

WMizell · Post by **WMizell** » 27 Jan 2005, 22:56

have to pull it out from topside

mloyland · Post by **mloyland** » 13 Feb 2005, 08:41

I have a 96 850T5 with about 150,000 miles on it.

It's been a very reliable car. The only issue we had was a new ABS controller that failed about 1 month out of warranty.

My question is what kind of mileage are you all running up before these seal issues ( or other engine/tranny situations ) pop up?