Re: Rear Main Seal Replacement

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2012/10/25 11:13:04

Hi Brian: Seeing no one else chiming in on this, I'll give you my experiences. I've never changed a rear seal on a V8 with Ultramatic but I've done several on the 50-54s with Ultramatic and I did not remove the transmission. It's a fussy little job and made much easier if you have those little rear seal tool kits that used to be some common for pulling the old upper seal out and pulling the new one thru. Careful triming of the seal ends is an essential. I don't recall if the V8s have the little wooden side blocks or not, but if so they're important and so is making sure the drain or weep hole is clear. It's also mportant to use some sort of mandrel to form the seal in the lower bearing cap - see the illustrations in the shop manual. I've used the graphited cord replacement seals with complete satisfaction, seems they are usually good for about the life of the engine.

Perhaps someone else may have info on a replacement other than OEM style.