Greetings,
First off, I've got a 1983 Toy pickup. All drivetrain, motor, etc. is stock (except an air filter, which I imagine doesn't apply to this situation).
Short version: If I'm leaking oil out of my rear main seal, would there be evidence (as in oil) all over the outside of the seal and the retainer? If it's clean, would that eliminate the possability of a leak?
Long version: I bought my truck almost a year ago knowing it had a bad rear main seal. About three months ago my father and I dropped the tranny, clutch, flywheel, etc. and replaced the rear main seal. We put everything back together and were happy. About a month after I started to notice my oil level slowly falling, but no sign of a leak. I asked for help on-line and was told that my crankshaft probably needed a repair sleeve. I waited another month (up to a month ago) and started to notice that oh too familiar drip at the bottom of my bellhousing. Well, I was hoping this was actually oil residue coming off the bellhousing. (When we initially dropped the tranny we realized the PO had let this thing leak like crazy for a loooooong time and the interior of the bellhousing was just coated in motor oil).
Well, a week and a half ago I went wheelin' on a run. Topped off the oil on Thursday, left Friday (no driving in between). I came back Sunday and just left the truck in the driveway (my alternator wasn't charging and I was too disgusted to fool with it at the time) and unloaded the next day.
The next day, I noticed a small puddle under my truck. Bellhousing's leaking almost as bad as it ever did. I checked the oil level and I lost more than a quart.
So, yesterday and today the tranny was dropped again, removed everything, and got to the rear main seal with the intent and hope that the problem was the lack of a repair sleeve. Well, the seal and retainer were as clean as a whistle. I can't understand what happened. I'm losing motor oil, and there's oil at the bottom of the bellhousing. But there's no evidence of it getting past the seal. I'm totally lost.
Another thing that was noticed was the input shaft on the tranny had some slight give in it. Granted with it on the truck the pilot bearing would prevent budging, but notice was taken.
Tranny level seemed fine.
The leaking oil didn't have a smell that I could detect, but that doesn't mean it's not there.
I'm lost. I'm loosing motor oil, and there's oil at the bellhousing, but I can't see any oil around the seal, indicating a leak. My tranny output shaft is also budging, but the tranny level seems fine. I see no evidence like a "stream" of oil coming from the tranny.
I just don't know what to do or where the problem is. Any help/advice would be appreciated. The idea's floating around of just going down to MC and asking Marlin himself.
FYI this is a link to a picture of the previous oil seal, which lead one person to suggest that the old seal had damaged the crankshaft......
If it helps any.... I'm running 10w30 Mobil1 synthetic. At speeds the pressure's fine, but at a stop the pressure does seem a little low.
