rear main oil seal

[whiskers]

Hi guys, as the title implies, I have a rear main oil seal seal that isn't sealing anymore and it needs replacing. what I would like to know if anyone can help.
is it very hard to remove to auto transmission from a 99 AU and do I have to remove the bell housing to do the seal, are there any special tools needed ie; torx bits.
If anyone can help me out it will be very appreciated.

thanks in advance
Whiskers :

[EA2BA]

rear main is a big job for a seal replacement.

gearbox has to come all the way out means torque convertor, bell housing the lot, trans lines have to be undone, shifter linkage un-hooked.

and the gearbox is not all the light either.

For all the above reasons i prefer to remove gearbox and engine as 1 unit then seperate and change the seal, then drop them back in especially if doing it by myself.

[EvilChief]

if u have access to a hoist no need to remove the engine, even lifting the car by a good meter of the ground will give u plenty of working space (use 5ton stands), however the transmission is bloody heavy, its def a two man job.

as previosuly said, bell housing has to go as well, tail shaft has to go, oil lines, etc due to that reason i prefer to drain the tranny while at it and give it a comple flush including the torque converter

[whiskers]

what if i use car ramps to get the car up high enough. was going to drain the oil out of the tranny and give it a service whilst I was at it. and I was going to con my son into helping me out of needed and it sounds like I will.
are there any special tools needed to do the job, like torx bits?

[TwistedEL]

Not sure about Torx bits, I doubt it, but you will need a shitload of extension bars and a trolley jack to get the transmission out

[Jastel]

Are you sure it is the rear seal??
Often it leaks out of the sump or head and it always runs down and drips off the bottom of the gearbox so it seems like the rear seal. Have not had much trouble with seals, but all my cars leak around the sump eventually, try tightening the sump bolts, it's much easier!!

No torx bits needed unless you plan to dismantle the inside of the gearbox

Main gearbox to engine bolts are 13mm and 19mm
Pan bolts are 10mm
Tailshaft to diff are 15mm and 18mm
Oil lines are 17mm
Torque converter to flywheel 17mm
A few other sizes but nothing special and need lots of extensions

I change them regularly and car is only a foot or so off the ground, on stands of course

Some tips

I can do by myself but I have a home made jack to hold up the gearbox
Much easier with 2 people
Take off left front wheel and slide out that way on trolley jack or peice of ply
Drain box first by taking off pan, remove and change filter, clean pan and replace gasket, put pan back on so you can slide it on ground
Take off catalytic converter from engine (14mm long tube socket is best)
and at muffler join halfway down
Disconnect battery and remove starter motor, hardest part I reckon
Access torque converter bolts (4 in a plus sign pattern) via front plastic cover, turn engine by screwdiver onto flywheel through slot or via crankshaft with socket
At top RH corner a 19mm bolt has a bracket that supports the hot water pipe
make sure this doesn't get jammed between engine and bellhousing when reinstalling
Get 19mm bolts by using long extensions from the back of the gearbox, may need a uni joint or wobbly bar, helps to have someone at the front holding socket onto the bolts
Before removing rear gearbox mounting jack up gearbox under bell housing and after taking off rear mount let down slowly it will hang on the front engine mounts, whilst it is hanging there I get a large G clamp and a piece of wood and clamp it around the sway bar back to the sump so it won't "spring" back up when I separate the engine and bellhousing, do the starter motor when its lowered, it's easier
when refilling make sure car is level, fill to top of plug on RHS, start engine and go through gears until you feel them engage, (foot on brake obviously) recheck, it will take a bit more oil.

Hope this helps, probably forgotten something as its 2.30

[whiskers]

yep I'm pretty sure its the oil seal, I took it to a mechanic around here and got him to do a clean underneath the car(steam clean)of the oil that had been blown back under the chassis. after what you have just said I may get a mechanic to do it for me, although it goes against the grain a bit, as I have done what ever work that was needed on all my cars since I started driving (a long time ago)
thanks for the info guys I'LL have to have a think on it now.

[Jastel]

Hope I didn't scare you off, it is do able at home by someone who knows what they are doing but I definately wouldn't recommend it to a first timer.

I just put the tips in to help out, they are things that I messed up the first time around, it gets easier after doing 10 or so......

[whiskers]

Originally Posted by Jastel

Hope I didn't scare you off, it is do able at home by someone who knows what they are doing but I definately wouldn't recommend it to a first timer.

I just put the tips in to help out, they are things that I messed up the first time around, it gets easier after doing 10 or so......

Na mate you didn't scare me off, I have been tooing and froing about this for a while, I had a talk with the missus and we decided to take it to a mechanic to do, if it was a lot easier no worries but as it stands it might be a bit of a prob. anyway thanks for the help and suggestions. I'm not as young as I used to be.
Whiskers

[whiskers]

hey guys just thought that I would give you an update on the rear main.
I did take it to a local mechanic he turned to be very reasonable in price and the time it took. I also had a broken rear transmission mount as it turned out. For these blokes to pull the transmission out and put it back, new oil seal and the mount it cost me a total of $349.00 inclusive of gst. I done a ring around to get some ball park figures from some other mechanics and I saved myself about $200-$300. also found out that I have a bit of back lash in the diff but it can be adjusted

If anyone is interested and lives around the Caboolture sunshine coast area and you need some work done give precise mechanical a call they really done a good job