Rear Main Street Seal?

[Apache809]

This is a project truck and been work on it little by little. I started with the electrical system. I finally finished all the wiring stuff like headlights, tail lights and such. I turn it on once in a blue and drive it around the block.
Last week I started noticing a little oil on the ground. It wasn't much to have me concerned but today since I finally got tail lights, I decided to take it for a longer spin. I drove it about 5 miles to advanced auto to pickup a few things. The drive was ok but the last gear felt like it needed one more gear to go smooth. We made it to the store driving at about 40 mph because any faster and I felt like it was being overworked.
When I came out of the store I noticed a puddle of oil about 8 inches wide on the grownd. I looked under and saw oil dripping but from between the engine and tranny. I asked one of the vulture mechanics that hang around the store and he very quickly determined that it was a bad rear main seal. I put a quart of oil in it and drove it home. But on the drive home I forgot to disengage the parking brake. I only knoticed because of the smoke coming from the floor. Disengaged and the smoke stopped. Once home I didn't have parking brake. Yea, double whammy.

How hard is it to replace the seal?
Im a do it yourself type of guy and might have all the tools, but is this a job I can do on my driveway with a buddy?

[Apache809]

Sorry for the street in the subject. Not sure how that got there.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Its a fair amount of work. Minimum is to elevate the engine, get the front crank weight outta the way by rotating. Then work off the oil pan.

Pull the rear bearing cap and replace the seal and back together. New pan gasket and thats a minor pain too. Speciallly if ya get the corners wrong.

Dooable but a bad pain.

Step one. Make sure the pcv system is 100 percent. A simple fail of this system WILL push gobbs of oil past the seal. I know from e perience. 2 new rear main seals and it was a pbad pcv valve thad didnt evacuate the case. as little as 4 psi in the pan will push oil past the main seal and pan .

Do I have a 2 piece seal on my 61 longbed? I read somewhere that if its a 2 piece seal you dont have to drop the tranny. Is that true?

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Depends on what motor ya have. I think the earlier inlines were 2 piece rope seals...still gotta pull the pan and cap. With any 2 piece ya should be able to leave the tranny in. We left mt t5 in place for the seal swap.

I searced for the seal and it appers to be 2 piece. So drop the transmission oil pan and I should see it? There is also a pan tht covers the flywheel. Drop that too?

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

Rear main seal is in the engine not trans. If its a motor oil leak ignore the trans. A motors or haynes manual will detail it with pics. Its not a hard job. Just a real PITA in a driveway. Its almost easier to yank the motor and do it on an engine stand.

Its leaking from around the flywheel. Like between the engine and the flywheel. Somewhere in there.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

That would be most likely be either oil pan or rear main seal. First make sure the road draft or pvc system is fully functoinal. then if its still pumpin out engine oil, go after the rear main seal and oil pan gasket. The only other thing that would leak motor oil back there is the cam plug but thats real rare.

How do I locate the pvs system and how do I check it? I ran out of light today but I'll get on it first thing In the morning. I really appreciate the help. Thanks a bunch.

[Apache809]

Here are a few pics.

[ACK]

If ya' have a 6, the PCV is at the back of the valve cover. Pull it out, shake it, if you hear something inside moving, that's a good sign. In case the tubing on the PCV is just hanging down the side of the engine, it needs to be connected to the exhaust manifold or you'll be able to tell where the trucks been by following the trail of oil leaking from all the gaskets. Good luck and I'm hoping it's not the seal.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by ACK

If ya' have a 6, the PCV is at the back of the valve cover. Pull it out, shake it, if you hear something inside moving, that's a good sign. In case the tubing on the PCV is just hanging down the side of the engine, it needs to be connected to the exhaust manifold or you'll be able to tell where the trucks been by following the trail of oil leaking from all the gaskets. Good luck and I'm hoping it's not the seal.

I ran out to take these pics. Can you point it out here?

[Captainfab]

The 235/261's do not have a PCV system, just the road draft tube. That is located on the passenger side between the fuel pump and the distributor. That engine will also have a rope seal. Those can be a pain to change with the crank in the block. I believe there is a special installation tool to make it easier.

[AcampoDave]

Is there any chance the oil could be leaking out the rear of the valve cover and running down the back of the block?

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

The 235/261's do not have a PCV system, just the road draft tube. That is located on the passenger side between the fuel pump and the distributor. That engine will also have a rope seal. Those can be a pain to change with the crank in the block. I believe there is a special installation tool to make it easier.

My buddy mentioned this tool to me today. He said it's like wire that grips the top portion of the seal to release it. I been trying to find out what engine I have.

About the engine.
As of this specs graph i should have a 230 or a 292 but this engine Clearly looks like a 235ci. But then againg im not sure what year thats from.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by AcampoDave

Is there any chance the oil could be leaking out the rear of the valve cover and running down the back of the block?

Good point. Im gonna be digging in deeper tomorrow with good Florida sunshine. But i am also worried about the lack of power.

[tincan1966]

The specs graph you show is for a '64-66 and you have a '61 model truck.

1961 trucks should have a 235 cid inline six. which, by the pic you posted is what you have. The only way to know for sure would be to reference the block casting numbers and production ID.

Gotta know what you have before you can get parts- altho most things, like gaskets, seals will interchange as long as you have the correct engine "family"

[ACK]

If ya' don't have the 1960 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual and the '61 supplement, purchase them. They will pay for themselves many, many times over.

[Apache809]

SIZE="3"]Ok, Im really exited to have a living 235ci engine on my driveway. A little leaky but still ticking. Almost as exited to have possibly the only c30 9' stepper around. I wanna thank you guys for your inputs and trust me, im very grateful for not just the knowledge but the chance to work on and American Classic engine with you guys. AcampoDave, a little bit of oil back there but not enough to drop that much on my floor.
Now for the action plan. Sorry for all the questions but I wanna make sure I have all I need to get started. Im exited to jump right in but wanna get you all's impute before getting my grease monkey on. Im curious to know a good way to remove all the gunky and oily stuff from the engine and tranny before i get started. I have a pressure cleaner, is it ok to wash it down with it and if so what is a good degreaser? Where do I start and what will I need? I know Im gonna need the 2 part seal, but what is recommended? Rope or rubber? Oil pan gasket, sealant or no sealant? Tools for removing the gasket? I was told by a buddy of mine and Captainfab from here mentioned a tool to get to the top seal. [/SIZE] While im there what are some things I should also address? [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_100414_zps18c22ef5.jpg[/I MG
IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_100406_zps6bf0275e.jpg[/I MG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_100354_zps3ed965e8.jpg[/ IMG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_100808_zpsabd9a0ca.jpg[/I MG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_100611_zpseee4cb7c.jpg[/I MG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_095931_zpsc41dd969.jpg[/I MG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_095545_zps72af5d4c.jpg[/I MG] [IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/KOZMUZIC/IMG_20140404_095422_zps58cb62e9.jpg[/I MG

[Apache809]

Sorry for that.. here are the images.. Also if anyone knows where I can get the air filter please shot me a link. Thanks.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by ACK

If ya' don't have the 1960 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual and the '61 supplement, purchase them. They will pay for themselves many, many times over.

Got the supplement and owners. Shop manual should be here by next week. Thanks.

[1963c-10]

The air filters pop up on ebay all the time.

[Apache809]

waiting on the seal kit. Working on some bodywork.

[AcampoDave]

I just noticed you named it " Big Boy" I love it, that's perfect. I hope you get him all fixed up with your new seal. Keep us posted on your progress with this rare brute.

[Apache809]

Originally Posted by AcampoDave

I just noticed you named it " Big Boy" I love it, that's perfect. I hope you get him all fixed up with your new seal. Keep us posted on your progress with this rare brute.

Yea, Big Boy is a keeper for me. Was considering sell it a few weeks back till I found out how rare it is. Im just waiting for the seal and ill be rolling. Will update soon. Check out my build page!! Thanks.

[Apache809]

So I dropped my oilpan to check deeper into my leak. But can't identify or locate the rear seal. Do I have to take any other screws off? I see 2 that hold the crank shaft at the rear but not sure. Any ideas?

[sixTsix]

you will need to pull the rear main cap off of the crank (2 bolts). once pulled one half of the seal will be in the rear main cap. the half will run above and over the crank. to pull this portion you will need a very small punch or screwdriver to gently tap the main seal out of its race .. tap on one side of it ...and it will drive out of the other side then you can grab with a pair of plyers and rip it the rest of the way out. once you've reached this, the new seal will run down into the main cap seal race and the other half you will have to push up and over the crank following its seal race.

[jtrichard]

you might have to loosen all but the front main cap to get the crank to drop down a tad to help with getting the new dog turd / rope seal in place just make sure you retorque all the caps you loosen