rear main seal not bad after all?

redlinedeath · #1 11-01-2009, 08:43 PM

i bought a new rear main seal a few months ago for the svx, because i remember when it was running, after it would warm up you could see smoke and smell burnt oil. i got the trans out... well, aside, the car wasnt high enough for the trans to make it out!

anyhow, there was no sign of any oil on the flex plate, looks nice and clean! would you even see signs of a bad seal on the flex plate if the rear main seal was bad? i dont wanna remove the flex plate if i dont have to, not to mention, its in great shape!

Hocrest · #2 11-01-2009, 09:01 PM

If you have the trans out and you think there's an oil leak, it would be foolish to not pull the flex plate to check the rear main and separator plate.

When you have the flex plate off, you should also check for cracking.

redlinedeath · #3 11-01-2009, 09:10 PM

thank you sir, that will be done next.

a few other questions. for some reason, i remember seeing instructions to mark flexplate/torque converter relation or something of that sort? or maybe my memory is lieing, i dont quite remember. anyhow, after i get that sorted out, i just slide the torque converter on, make sure its in all the way in the trans, and put it all back together?

also, my trans was pretty bad. rolled back in forth as far as you could push it... in park. i found chunks(yes, chunks) of metal in my trans pan, so im afraid to use the origional torque converter out of my car. if i use the one out of the trans i got, i just have to get the 4 broken off bolts out of the torque convterter.

any suggestions for any of this?

Hocrest · #4 11-01-2009, 09:17 PM

The older soob flex plates had non symmetrical holes in the flex plate so it could only be bolted in one position, the timing marks were on the flex plate. The EJ's, EG's can get bolted on in any position.

Good call on using the new converter. To get it seated properly, set it in place then spin it clockwise a few rotations, stop and slowly turn ccw while lifting up and pushing in. Repeat this a few times until you are sure it is fully seated.

redlinedeath · #5 11-01-2009, 09:25 PM

thanks again. after work, i gotta work on getting those broken bolts out of the new TC. pull the flexplate, examine it and the rear main seal, and get it all back together! then i just have to replace cv boots and find wheels, or try to get these lips cleaned up. so close!

ooh, cv grease... any suggestions?

yt · #6 11-02-2009, 04:48 AM

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51950

Tom

gbianchi · #7 11-02-2009, 09:43 AM

Qwik question you said car wasn't high enough for trans removal how high was your lift, did you use ramps, I will be doing this job at some point and am curious if ramps lift it high enough, ramps have worked for other subies.........G

Marcus · #8 11-03-2009, 09:48 PM

Did you consider smoke and smell could possibly not come from the trany but from the power steering fluid (which is also red ATF) dripping on your passanger side exhaust system. Mine did this in a real fatal way, when the returning hose came off (due to aged rubber / bad clamp design).

Marcus

redlinedeath · #9 11-04-2009, 01:36 AM

as for the height question, i have 2 suv jackstands that are up one notch in front, and in rear i have standard jackstands that are 1 notch from fully maxed out. the suv ones are awesome, but much taller then the standard ones. id recommend those, but i didnt have a lift or anything.

as for the power steering fluid comment, thats a very good point, under the car everything is PERFECT... except for the massive amounts of fluid under the car on the rack and pinion

it would lose half a qt or so over about 2 weeks of driving. my brother also ran power steering fluid... what damage would this cause?

Marcus · #10 11-05-2009, 09:56 AM

Hi, there are two commonly observed leaks in the power steering system due to aging of material. You will find plenty information (also on how to fix it) in the forum by using the search funktion. 1) The o-ring between resrevoir and pump needs to be replaced 2) The high pressure and low pressure return hose
You will notice if you have a leak by regulary checking the dip stick. Also you do see the spilled fluid arround the pump housing.
The two hoses are worse. The high pressure hose was redesigned (early models it consisted of two parts). I cannot tell you about the livetime of the redesigned one, I replaced it anyway when I had to replace the return hose. Since it is located over the right exhaust pipe any oil leaking from there will probably get burnd (smell and smoke). In my case it came completely of while parking. The clamp coming allong with the hose was redesigned, too. The return hose with clamp is about 20 Bucks at subaruparts.com. At least one of us went cheap and used a new hose from some parts store with success. The OEM hose is s-shaped, which might make the installation easier.

redlinedeath · #11 11-05-2009, 12:24 PM

thanks. im going to have to check that out next time i have free time! id be done if people wouldnt keep calling in sick!