rear main seal

[smokein cummins]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how to replace the rear main seal on my truck. i have the transmission out because the syncros are bad and im replacing the clutch while i have the transmission off and i noticed that the rear main is leaking. so i figured seem how im that far into it i might as well replace it to.

 

[SRadke]

It's a pretty simple. If youe looking at the back of the crank with the flywheel removed you'll see the crank with the seal around it. The body of the seal is about 3/8" thick. Drill a small hole in it and thread a screw in. Then grab the screw with a pair of vise grips or a slide hammer and yank that baby out. You'll have to pull pretty hard but it'll come. Then wipe all the oil and crud off the end of the crank and seal surface and check to see if the old seal has worn a groove in the crank. If it has you'll want to set the new seal at a diffrent depth.



The new seal (if you buy it from Cummins) will have an install kit that consists of the seal, a plastic tube to start it over the crank, and a steel ring to pound on that doubles as a depth stop. With the seal on the tube hold it on the back of the crank. The big end of the tube should just fit over the crank. Slide the seal off the tube onto the crank and remove the tube. The hold the steel ring up on the seal and gently tap the seal in working your way around it to keep it square. When the steel ring bottoms out on the end of the crank you've reached the correct depth. If you had a groove in your crank from the old seal don't drive the new one in all the way. So the seal lip on the new seal is not in the old groove. Good luck.



-Scott

 

[Greenleaf]

Now I Understand

So that's what the steel ring/plastic tube was for!!! I could not figure it out. Never worked with such extraodinary machinery. John Deere just gives you the seal. Then your on your own from there.



-S

 

[smokein cummins]

Thanks for the info i thought it was pretty simple but i just thought i would check to make sure. hopefully it goes good.