3RD GEN REAR MAIN SEAL

76,000 miles 2017 dcsb 4x4. No warranty.

The rear main seal in the engine just started dripping. Has anyone changed one yet? Any tips or tricks. Oil is leaking out from engine/transmission mating and dripping on to crossmember.

It looks like trans and transfer case has to come out. I’m going to monitor leak and see if it gets worse.

 

Torque all bolts first... hopefully this helps or fixes it.

 

look's like it is at the worse stage now! if it were me i would power wash and clean it up and go straight to the dealer and trade in on a 2020.
unless you have done a lot of major mods.

 

My 17 had this same issue but I caught it as a slight weep at 16k miles. There are enough documented cases here for me to be concerned that this is a bigger issue. Everyone should be periodically checking this on their 3rd gens. Possible faulty seals/assembly from the factory. I’d personally press Toyota despite being out of warranty to see if the will partially cover this.

 

Are you having to replace oil between changes?? It looks like a fair amount but sometimes looks can be deceiving. My 03 rubicon had a rear main seal leak the day I drove off the lot and put it in 4wd for the first time. Took it back and the sales rep said “It’s a Jeep thing”. Never bad enough to replace oil between changes tho so I just drove it like that, putting oil back in the ground where it came from

 

i agree if in fact trading it in is not an option. if maybe on the fence about trading it in then taking it to toyota and the issue now becomes written up and tagged to the trucks VIN no way of hiding it to trade it in later, would pretty much commit to repairing once tayota knows about it.

 

You realize rear main seals aren't that big of a deal to replace, right? You just have to remove the transmission and torque converter. It's not worth trading it in... in my opinion.

 

Not enough oil is leaking out to require adding oil in between 5000 miles changes.

 

Too many mods but a manual trans would be nice.

 

I'd go to harbor freight and pick up a trans jack, but I suppose that only if your physically able. Shouldn't be a huge deal to a good mechanic, I would just get it fixed at a good independent shop. sucks that it went out so early though. Id be kinda annoyed,

 

You’d waste far more money on trading it in over a simple seal leak than keeping it and fixing it. As stated above, it should be an easy task for any reputable independent shop. Actually quite easy to do if you have the right tools/equipment.

 

I would use it as justification to buy more tools

 

I would clean all that off. Drive it a couple days and try to see if you can find a definitive location for where the oil is coming from. A rear main seal isn't technically a hard job to do. It's just time consuming.

 

Slight understatement....considering there no vehicle lifts in my shop.

remove-
Exhaust
Driveshaft
Remove starter
Drain coolant
Drain trans
Drain transfer
Remove wire harness on trans case
Remove coolant lines to trans cooler
Remove trans thermostat cooler
Remove bolts from flex plate to torque converter
Remove t case and trans hoping they don’t fall off jack
Remove flex plate

Changing the seal is the easy part...

probably forgot some stuff lol

 

If I remove the lines to the transmission cooler, why do I have to remove the transmission cooler?

 

Shit someone's done this before

 

Transmission thermostat cooler, I better learn to read I recon...sorry. Thinking about it a bit longer, what the hell is a trans thermostat cooler?

 

engine coolant maintains transmission atf cooler temp in freezing conditions. I think.

 

The trans cooler is in front of the radiator. And coolant isn't used to help it in cooler temperatures. The clutches and fluid whipped around the torque converter negate any need to help warm the fluid. Also there should be zero need to drain the coolant as it shouldn't connect to the transmission in any way. This picture is not representative of part locations. It's the equivalent of a map of the USA showing Alaska and Hawaii south of the continental states.

 

I'm sure you could work around some of that lol. I have lifts at my shop so I'll wind up doing it whenever mine starts dripping. I'm also a tech so this is nothing hahah.