Need help ,rear main oil seal housing

[BUSTER1]

I am replacing rear main oil seal and housing , the manual says i need an aligning tool and i dont have one is there some way around it ,also in the ACL gasket set I have the only sump gasket seems to be a large o ring type ,the one I took off had a tin type backing?????
Thanks for any info
Cheers Garry

[hako]

Gergorys doesn't mention an aligning tool - just says to "place the locators onto the retaining bolts and instal the housing to the cylinder block".
Not sure about the sump gasket but if it fits it must be OK.

[RX25SE]

The factory Workshop manual has over 5 pages on rear main replacement. Even changes with engine numbers! I have done mine with the upgraded housing which has the seal fitted. It is also a different type of seal. No lip or spring, just a flat ribbed running surface.
You cannot use the aligning tool with this unless you remove the seal from the housing and this type of seal is not sold as a seperate part.
I fitted it without the aligning tool....
...it is leaking again.

We did my mates car a quite a while ago and fitted it without the tool.....it leaked.
We did it again a few months later WITH the tool........it leaked.

I beginning to think there is no long term fix for this.


Oh, VS have an O ring gasket, VT has a rubber coated metal gasket.

[moff_man]

I am replacing rear main oil seal and housing , the manual says i need an aligning tool and i dont have one is there some way around it ,also in the ACL gasket set I have the only sump gasket seems to be a large o ring type ,the one I took off had a tin type backing?????
Thanks for any info
Cheers Garry

you have a large sump plug dont you.......

you will need another gasket the one you have is for the 1st sump with the small plug and the grove cut in it.

with the rear main, just sit it over the crank with out lube of any type the plastic retainer should pop out as it goes on.(verry small amount of engine oil if your worried) and start the bolts bye hand till there all down far enough than tighten in correct sequance

the tool is required if you replace the seal itself and not the plate

[RX25SE]

you have a large sump plug dont you.......

you will need another gasket the one you have is for the 1st sump with the small plug and the grove cut in it.

Were late VS fitted with the large sump plug? Mines a 04/97 and it has the small one.

the tool is required if you replace the seal itself and not the plate

I thought the tool was to align the housing to the crank and pan rail prior to fitting a new seal?

[moff_man]

Were late VS fitted with the large sump plug? Mines a 04/97 and it has the small one.

I thought the tool was to align the housing to the crank and pan rail prior to fitting a new seal?

it should have the groove for the "o" ring style gasket than. later sumps have the larger plug and have a flat gasket, the flat gasket can be used on the earler sumps, the groove needs to be fill in tho.


yes but 9 times out of 10 its not needed, ive done manny vs rear mains and havnt used the tool (even tho it is there to be used at work)

all else fails you can uses a flat bit of steel or a stright edge and align it that way (even drill some holes in the steel and bolt it up)

[RX25SE]

Yeah mine has the O ring sump.

I've done a few too but never with total success. Always seem to leak a bit. I've done plenty on other cars with 100% success so it seems as if it's a type of design fault.
Do the housings ever leak or is it always the seal?

[moff_man]

Yeah mine has the O ring sump.

I've done a few too but never with total success. Always seem to leak a bit. I've done plenty on other cars with 100% success so it seems as if it's a type of design fault.
Do the housings ever leak or is it always the seal?

the housings leak, there was another revised plate relesed 2 years ago now to make it better again

[RX25SE]

Pretty sure I have that updated plate as I did mine just over a year ago.
Still leaks though!!

[Cheap6]

FWIW, the alignment of the plate has to be such that the seal is concentric with the crank sealing surface and the bottom of the plate is parallel with the sump. If the seal is concentric with the crank and the plate lower edge parallel with the sump it will also be flush with the block.

If you use the plate with the seal preinstalled, the concentricity will be set (unless you do something to distort the seal). Bolting the sump up temporarily, without the gasket (with the bolts for the plates loose) will set the lower edge correctly.

Contributing to seal leakage can be:

crankshaft sealing surface damage or varnishing

PCV restriction

main bearing clearances loose

piston ring blow by

all worth checking.