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fresh 383 rear main seal leak during install

72golddustermike

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When install engine/tranny was almost vertical oil started coming from rear main seal. I had 5 qts of oil in it. Could being at almost vertical angle cause oil to go past seal?
 
Thats all in your head the rear mains in Big mopars NEVER leak, lol, sorry that is a side joke from another thread...


Nothing should cause the seal to leak top or bottom, make sure it is indeed the rear main and not an oil pressure switch, coming out of the breather, a missing plug, etc... If it is, I would fix it before you install the engine... I guess it takes a real mopar guy to get them not to leak, lol.. Good luck with it, any pics of that new motor install for us, we love pictures, and I am a sucker for clean engines..
 
Not sure why you had the engine/tranny hanging vertical, let alone with 5 quarts of oil in it, but I am willing to bet the oil cam from the top of the motor somewhere, and not the rear main seal. The only way it should leak even before you start it is to be missing the side seals or rear main seal itself.
 
Maybe not 100 percent vertical but tilted enough to put in engine bay oil was in because I primed it while turning crank to attach converter bolts.
 
Maybe not 100 percent vertical but tilted enough to put in engine bay oil was in because I primed it while turning crank to attach converter bolts.


I understand 100% what you are saying, you dropped motor and tranny in at once, correct? And I put motors in all the time with oil in them, they go from the dyno to the car, why drain the oil to reprime...... If the top of the motor is dry and the bottom is wet its the rear main, NOW, there is an easy way to figure this out, blow some powder in there to see where the oil is coming from, if the motor is clean, the powder will stick to the oil and show its trail, I use this, but any powder will work
odorkillpowder.jpg
 
IMG_1023.JPGProblem found. The rear seal was installed backwards in the lower seal retainer. The seal in the block was installed right.

- - - Updated - - -

put her in
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Glad you found it on the install and not on the first start up!

Mopar Gods looking over you...
 
nice, I love sublime cars... good that you found it..
 
I had mine leak when the engine was at an angle when the trans was out. It has an aftermarket aluminum pan. Turns out the sealing area on the rear pan rail overlapped the retainer bolt holes. Oil leaked around the reliefs for the bolt heads in the retainer. I ended up filling the relief holes above the heads of the retainer bolts with RTV. Don't know if this is posible with a stock style pan or not.
Doug
 
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