Rear crank seal: to replace, or not...

[jarl]

Yesterday -finally- I pulled the engine on a new-to-me 2001 legacy. There are leaks everywhere -including head gaskets, apparently- but the one concerning me right now is -I believe- through the rear crank seal (see picture).

 

I've read here -numerous times- not to touch it because of the difficulty installing the new one, but it would be ridiculous to reinstall the engine with a know leak. So... is this a rear main seal leak that needs to be adressed, or not?

 

Also: the wrist pin cover on the left seems to be in good condition. Should I replace the o'ring preemptively?

 

Merci beaucoup!

[lmdew]

I'd leave it.  I see that all the time, it's coming from the breather.

 

Cam if you want to. 

[monstaru]

THat is an easy one to do. But it is most likely the plate next to it.Take that off , clean and RTV that sucker back on!

cheers

[upnorthguy]

I followed the general consensus and left my rear main seal alone as it looked OK.  People here usually say only replace it if you can see major leaking from that seal.

 

As lmdew and monstaru noted, it is usually the oil separator/breather plate to the right spewing all that oil around.  I can't tell if your plate is plastic or not.  If it is plastic, you should replace it with a new metal one (and new screws).  Photo of new plate here from beergarage.

 

When I pulled my engine a couple of weeks ago to get at this plate, my wrist pin cover also looked clear of leaks, but I went ahead and replaced o-ring.  Who knows when (if ever) I'll have the engine out again!  I needed an impact screwdriver to get those screws out.

[johnceggleston]

DO NOT REPLACE IT.

 

there are lots of things that will kill your engine before that does.

they usually last the life of the engine.

[Fairtax4me]

That's the separator plate leaking.

I'd replace the wrist pin cover o-ring, or remove the cover and RTV it. It's not leaking now, but it will soon.

[heartless]

agree on the separator plate leaking - lucky you, you have the cast alloy plate, remove it, clean up the mating surfaces and reseal, done deal.

you may need an impact driver to remove the screws.

[MilesFox]

THat is an easy one to do. But it is most likely the plate next to it.Take that off , clean and RTV that sucker back on!

cheers

use ultra grey or anarobic

[johnceggleston]

after the reseal,

you do not want it to leak.

but almost as bad,

is if small pieces of sealant, or large pieces for that matter,

break off on the inside and clog oil circulation channels in your engine.

 

so seal it,

but don't over do it.

[jarl]

I apologize for the delay in getting back. Life has kept me away for a few days... and prevented me from working on the engine

 

So... you agree it's only the separator plate leaking? I ask because you can see some oil around the bottom edges of the seal, and it's not clear to me how oil from the separator would get there.

I'll do the wrist pin and the separator plate for sure. I just don't want to close this thing and find the now infamous (among our family) oil-into-exhaust smell with this car too.

 

Regarding the sealant: do the anaerobic go bad after some time? I kind of know the answer, but just in case...
 

[heartless]

a minute amount of oil seepage at that seal is perfectly normal - unless there is a major leak there (yours is not major) leave it alone!

 

the oil leaking around the separator plate can get flung/blown around by the flywheel spinning, so it can get all over the place.

The separator plate is the source of your "oil-into-exhaust" issue - trust those that have been there before.

My '90 was leaking so badly from the separator plate it would literally smoke! was going thru a quart of oil every couple hundred miles. resealed the plate - left the rear main alone - and the problem was solved.

[jarl]

Will do