Rear main seal - alignment tool, seal pilot, installation tool

[PLohr]

I purchased a rear main seal from Dodge a while back. This new rear main seal has a removable plastic sleeve which I am guessing is the seal pilot tool (I may be wrong on this). The seal has part number 3970548. Also mentioned in the factory service manual is an installation tool and an alignment tool. That is a total of three items that should have come with the rear main - the alignment tool, the seal pilot, and the installation tool (if I have this right). Shown in the photos is all that came in the package with the rear main. If there are three items necessary for installing the seal, they did not come with the rear main.



I have also attached the two pages from the factory service manual. This installation procedure is confusing. The highlighting is not intended to call attention to anything.



Am I missing the alignment tool and installation tool?



Thanks for any help,

Paul Lohr



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[jhenderson]

Parts don't come with tools. If they did, Snap On would be out of business.

 

[rscurtis]

If you don't remove the seal housing from the engine, you don't have to worry about the alignment.

 

[PLohr]

jhenderson, thanks for your help. Usually the factory service manual lists special tools needed. None of these are mentioned.

rscurtis, the rear main seal is leaking so I think the housing has to be removed to replace the seal.

Please, could I get a little help on this?
Paul Lohr

 

[rscurtis]

Drill the face of the seal and see if you can remove it with a couple of sheet metal screws. If you can, the housing remains in place. If you can't, then you'll have to remove the housing. If you carefully mark its location on the block before removal, you can get away without an alignment tool. As a final test, find a way to pressurize the crankcase to 2-3 PSI and check for leaks before installing the flywheel.

 

[PLohr]

Thank you for helping me with this. Those are good tips, I appreciate that.

I already removed the rear main seal adapter.

I ordered the rear main tool set from Quad 4x4.

TS6000 Cummins Rear Crank Seal Installer Tool Set

 

[PLohr]

Here is something about the rear main seal I learned yesterday.

I ordered a rear main seal from Mopar. It did not come with the alignment tool. This alignment tool aligns the bore of the rear main adapter to be concentric with the crankshaft sealing surface. I noticed that Quad 4x4's rear main seal comes with the alignment tool. So I ordered a rear main seal (that comes with the alignment tool) from Quad 4x4. Joe at Quad 4x4 said that when they order the rear main seals from Cummins, that alignment tool is included.

Joe at Quad 4x4 also said there are no dowels to align the rear main housing bore to the crank sealing surface. That is the reason the alignment tool is needed. Quad 4x4 has been very helpful.

I could have left the rear main adapter bolted to the engine. That way I would not need the alignment tool. But I would rather not take the chance that the rear main housing was misaligned from the factory and still end up with a leak. From searching the forum, it appears that many people have changed the rear main seal and the leak never dries up. The rear main seal has been leaking since the truck had 40k miles (the entire time I have had the truck) so the rear main housing may be misaligned.

Look for part number QU10556 on Quad 4x4's rear main web page if you need the seal and alignment tool (linked in the above post).

One note that might lessen confusion: the Quad 4x4 website refers to the alignment tool as a centering ring. The factory service manual uses the phrase 'alignment tool'.