Rear main seal

[BobQ]

I'm going to be putting a new clutch in my '83 in a couple of weeks and was thinking about whether I should put a new rear main seal in while I have it apart. Although it doesn't leak now, how difficult is it to replace the rear main seal (because I know if I don't replace the seal, it'll start leaking as soon as I get it back together)? Should I go with the two-piece again or can I upgrade to the one-piece seal?

Thanks.

[engineeradam]

If its the two piece rope seal its a pain, you have to drop the pan, loosin the main bearings so the crank will drop down a bit, and remove the rear main bearing cap. When i did one it was on my back on a garage floor, but on a hoist it would probably be easier. You will also need a torque wrench that goes high enough to torque the main bearings back up. Also everything ive heard is to upgrade to a neoprine seal but I havent done that

[john8662]

Similar to what was posted above.

You do have to remove the oil pan, it's a 2 piece rear main seal, and it will always be a 2-piece rear main seal. The original seal is a rope seal, really looks like a piece of rope. It gets replaced with the neoprene seal, which is in two halves.

The later blocks have a single piece rear main seal that doesn't require removal of the pan in order to replace. But those are 1992 and newer for 6.2.

You only have to remove one bearing cap on the engine though, the rear one. I'd get the R&R guide which describes this well before attempting this repair. It's not that hard, just not that fun. As mentioned, depents on whether you have a lift and it's easier to mess with or not.

If it isn't leaking, leave it alone. Sometimes after the repair, you cause leaks that were not there before (pan is hard to seal properly).

[BobQ]

Thanks for the help. I'll just leave it alone for now. No sense disturbing it.