I'm starting my thread on replacing my rear main seal. I'm starting with my spare block to make sure I know what is going on before I dig into my engine. I will be on my back with my engine so knowing what is where in a hands on way will be helpful.
But, I immediately ran into my first problem. Getting the Rear Seal Retainer bolts out. The book says they are 3/8 12 point head. But 3/8 is too small on this bolt and 7/16 won't even go in the space. I was able to get one of with a 10, but that is too big on the other bolt. The one I got out looks like a different style of bolt.
Any suggestions?

 

I found a 12 point 3/8 socket and that worked great. 6 point just won’t work.

 

Progress. One step, one obstacle, at a time. Good luck.

Jim

 

I did my last post from the phone. I don't see how you guys do that. I need to have a keyboard and big screen.
In the previous pictures you can see that the person that installed this one had the proper seal offset. There was rtv in the screws which is suggested by the experts.
In this next picture you can see the location of the nail on the side channel and how it is inserted.


To remove the seal from the block I just tapped lightly with a punch and used my needle nose to pull it out. It went very smoothly.


After this I'm confident my live seal change will go fairly smoothly. Now I always have issue getting my oil pan back on. I do have a new oil pan gasket set as well.
I will clean all the engine parts around the seal carefully and do the suggested RTV work. I'm using Ted Eaton's instructions.
https://www.eatonbalancing.com/2008/...-y-and-others/

Just about all pictures and instruction I see do this job with the engine out. I will try to take a bunch of pictures of the process with the engine in the truck.
Since I don't have a lift it will be on my back.
I wish I would have done this when I had my engine out. But I was extremely inexperienced and didn't dig that far, even though it wasn't that much further than I was at the time

 

Drive on Joe. You got this.

 

So, I've learned a few things today.

1. Not all seal bolts are the same. I have allen wrench types. Good thing my impact screwdriver has the proper size head.
2. The flywheel cover is in the way and there are two bolts behind the bell housing crossmember that are a bearcat to get to.
3. Someone over torqued the main cap bolts or I'm getting weaker. Dang! The ones closest to the flywheel were the tightest. I don't know if I needed to loosen those because...
   1. Note: retighten these in three steps 45, to 65, to 95 ft-lbs
4. I have the rope seal. Those don't push out. I actually took a screw and screwed it into one end to give me something to pull on.
5. They didn't offset the seals, but you probably can't with the rope seal. That could be one reason it is leaking (not 100% sure the seal was leaking, lots of potential places for leaks)
6. I have to walk away a LOT with jobs like this. Everything is new to me so I get frustrated quickly and also want to think and research every step.

Now for pictures.
Inside oil pan looks good, but this looks like a good leak spot.


Note clearance issues and allen style heads.


Rope seal was tight in hear. Notice the torn up section of the half on the bench where I put the screw in. Also notice no nails in the outside seals. Those are neoprene.

 

Do you have the "chinese fingers" installation tool?

 

Great progress Joe. And yes proper tools make life a lot easier. But these old trucks were made so tinkers could fix them. Thank God.

 

You're in elbow deep, joe! Well done. Hope you have few problems finishing up.

 

Well now that is a neat tool. I'm going to use the neoprene seal this time. My kit actually has both. So if anyone needs a rope seal, I have one.

 

If it's like an FE engine the original side seals didn't have nails. some type of odd compressed material. Good luck with replacement, hard to do on your back.

 

I think getting the new seal in is the easy part. I got it all in. NOTE: Don't forget to tighten the main caps (if you loosened them) before you put the bottom half back in. Only a little cussing was involved in that mistake.

I measured the difference in the overlap to make sure they were the same. I worry that the bottom half makes it in the slot though.


Comparison of new and old side seals.


Here the bottom half is in with side seals in nails. Notice the bolts for the last main caps are blocked.

 

Now for my frustrating question.
Installing the oil pan. I was putting it in and everything was going very smooth. I had almost all the bolts hand tightened in and pondered what that hole on the side of the pan was. <Insert lots of cuss words> I forgot to put in the oil pickup tube.
Now that I have that in, I am really struggling to get the pan back up. I can't get the pickup tube into the oil pump. Are there any tricks for doing this? Should I drop the oil pump and put both up as one unit? That doesn't seem right.

Also, the flywheel dust cover is a pain. It partially blocks the oil pan so it needs to be loose. There are also two bolts that are next to impossible to get back in because of the transmission cross member. I was very close to just leaving one out.

 

If you leave the big gland nut that secures the pipe to the side of the pan loose or not at all tight, the end of the tube should slide into the pump, no? Then get a couple of pan bolts started. Don't forget the rubber seal on the pipe, and don't over tighten the tube to pump connection.

 

I think the rubber seal inside the pump might be the issue. It stayed in the pump so I don't have any leeway for getting the tube in. It's in there pretty tight so I will look at getting that pulled out and replaced with the one that came with the oil pan kit.