whiskeyrichard

I went to replace my rear main seal tonight and came up with a quick question.

The O.D. of the seal I removed was all metal and had a red coating on it that I assume with some sort of locking agent.

The documentation in the book says if the seal you are putting in has a rubber O.D., then just soap it up and press it in. It then says that if the seal you are putting in does not have a rubber O.D. to use locktite.

Well guess what, the seal I have is rubber on the outer half of the O.D. and metal in the inner half of the O.D.

So have any of you installed this seal? If so, did you locktite or not locktite.

Thanks,
Russ

bigragu

If it is the cummins part, I used a slight film of soapy water.

SMoKeNU

Well i changed every seal in the truck except the rear main seal. How hard was it to get the transfer case and transmission out of the truck? I would be doing this by myself and have been kind of worried about the weight of those units.

Sorry for the off topic!

Chris

whiskeyrichard

cool thanks ragu. it is the cummins part, so I will go with soapy water.

I removed the engine, not the tranny and transfer case. As long as you have a jack for the trans, it cannot be that hard. If you decide to do the rear main seal, you should count on doing the oil pan gasket as well. The seal housing is sealed to the oil pan with that gasket, and it will likely break when you remove the seal housing.

Also, take some emery cloth and clean up the sealing surface on the end of the crankshaft real well before installing the new seal.

Thanks,
Russ

bigragu

You will need a transmission jack-either rent from your local rental yard(around 25-40 dollars /day) or buy one from Harbor freight. If it makes you feel better, I dropped the transmission and transfer case to replace my shredded flexplate back in May of 08. I had never done anything of that magnitude before, but thanks to some people here I had good coaching. Do a search on rear main seal or flexplate and you will find good advice on "How to's". Since it was my first time, and I had to fabricate one of the 1/2" transmission lines by hand/pipe bender, it took me 40 hours to complete.

clolley

Is the seal one piece design?

archer39

40 hours , holy cow. I hope it don't take me that long.

Billut

the one I'm about to put in is a two-part design: well, there is a "cover, rear" and a "Seal Kit, oil". Also, you can buy the tool that allows you to press it evenly in.
Updated part numbers are: cover, rear: 5017182AB, and seal kit oil 5114027AA

93John

It just depends on where you get the seal. Most local parts stores offer a 2 piece. Seal and a wear sleve. I think the one from cummins is a one piece. I put a 2 piece in mine, but i never used the wear sleve because it was in good shape.

bigragu

Hey, Whiskey, if it is not too late, you should also replace all bolts to new ones, and Cummins will have them(Cummins West in West Sac off of Reed Ave. Ask for John D. in parts).
The bolts will be the flexplate to engine and the torque converter to flexplate. Did you upgrade to the 2nd gen flexplate while you were in there? Sorry that no one including myself brought this up earlier...hopefully the search feature gave you a heads up!

bigragu

I picked a 3 day weekend, and when I came home after work on Friday afternoon (5pm) I started the ATF draining and dismantling of sensors, piping, and had the transfer case off by 2am. Saturday, (start by 7am) all day, removed tranny and installed rear seal, flexplate, and did some cleaning while I was under there(might as well). I also had an annoying leak at the transfer case, and I replaced the seals. By 10 pm Saturday the tranny and transfer case was mounted, and I was halfway done rebending a new 1/2" steel line for the tranny to oil/water cooler under the turbo. Sunday- (8am)piping work completed, all sensors back on, re-filled with new ATF and pan filter replaced. All brackets that attach to the transmission also completed. Clean up of all the mess. Monday, after work, (drove the truck to work and back) checked torque values on transmission mounts, undercarriage, and transmission to engine bolts.
Yeah, now that I think about it, maybe 40 hours might be exagerating...I shouldn't count stopping for meals, phone calls, etc. I just took from the time I started till I put the last tool in my tool box away.

clolley

On gas burner early models ya would remove the oil pan,rear main cap and slid the old upper half of a two piece seal, later models you would slid back the trans, remove the flywheel and install a one piece design. Is that how the 1st gen is?

wannadiesel

Our rear seal is a one piece seal like a late model gasser. You have to pull the trans.

clolley

I would like to pull my trans and check flywheel for cracks service the seal, if money holds out, replace the good torque converter to help with daily driving and camper pulling.