any trick to 5.0 rear main seal?

HISSIN50 said:
so do you all recommend using a silicone type product (copper RTV, etc) or blue threadlock on the flywheel bolts? i usually use some threadlock, but would use RTV if the threadlock might not seal well enough and 'backing out' is not much of an issue.
TIA.

I used blue threadlock when I changed my flywheel. I haven't had any problems with leaking after using the blue. I was planning on changing the rear seal, but it looked ok so I just left it alone.
 
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When I put on mine I put RTV on the block thrn slid in the crank. I put another bead of it on the under side of the rear bearing cap that sits on the other half of the seal. Never had a problem yet. Although now that I say this I go start my car and it will leak!
 
Look guys, the rear main seal problem is just a standard feature that comes in almost all Ford cars. It isn't a defect or a flaw. It is just another feature that sets Ford apart from the rest. Live with it, it isn't worthe the hassle of fixing :D
 
Just for an idea, if you've never pulled a tranny and done a main seal what kind of turn around are you looking at for a job like this? Assuming your relitivly comfortable with working on cars that is :D
 
Well I just got done doing mine...Took me 4 hours alone and I took some breaks. Should have been less.... but it took me a while to rig something up so I could knock the seal in. Wasnt near as bad as I thought and no leaks yet. Air tools and a tranny jack make a WORLD of difference.
 
tmoss said:
Could be an indication of main bearing wear too. Movement will wear the seal out early and cause it to leak from day one it it's not running true. Consider that if your a high mileage car.
That's what i'de blame a lot of them on. Seeing as how most of the seals are going to go about the same time the engine starts racking up the mileage, it's only logical.
 
The main seal is ont eh back side of the flywheel, so a leak would have to be pretty bad to get on the clutch. The flywheel would sling the oil onto the bellhousing where it would have to accululate and drip onto the front side of the flywheel - not real easy.
 
Well, I got it apart today. It seams that I had the wrong seal in there. There is no spring on the back side, and the part # is for a 2.3!!! I hate NAPA!!! I also talked to a friend of mine that has a performance shop and he informed me that packing the inside(spring area) with grease also helps. I did this and the RTV around the out side and I'll know what's up on monday when I put it all back together. Later

Nate