Rear main seal while the tranny is out?

[bmob01]

Hi everyone, I have my Tranny out due to a nice exedy clutch going in, and was wondering if it would be a good idea to put in a new rear main seal. The odometer says 107k on it, but I'm sure the guy before me tampered with it (I noticed sometimes the mileage stops counting...). At any rate is it a good idea to replace the seal? And is there anything else I should be replacing to ensure longevity in my car while the Tranny is out?

 

[Demon33]

Yes, change your seal now. It's not much more effort to install once you've reached the point of removing the trans, clutch and flywheel.

I replaced my rear main seal when I did my last clutch job. The engine had 150k miles on it at the time. With the number of miles already on the odometer, I thought it would be safer to change out the seal at that moment than to risk a leak later on down the road and have to pull it all out again. I figured it was cheap insurance and "peace of mind."

Resurface your flywheel and make sure it's within specs. Don't forget to inspect your clutch release fork and pivot ball and replace if they're worn. Might even be a good idea to change them out altogether. Also, use an OEM thowout bearing or one with a plastic sleeve. The plastic sleeve prevents damage and wear to the transmission's input shaft.

 

[1997_GSX]

I would change it to. Preventative maintenance ftw

 

[bmob01]

The clutch kit comes with a flywheel, so I assume it doesn't have to be machined. Also, how can I tell if the clutch fork and pivot arm are worn? I mean I can tell when something is rusted and old, but that doesn't always mean they're bad. Any tips?

 

[luv2rallye]

You usually can't tell until the tranny is back on. Then do this: TRE TECH TIPS
Also watch videos Proper clutch adjustment and Pivot ball shimming here: http://www.jackstransmissions.com/pages/tech-articles.
It's somewhat of a pain if you have to pull the tranny off again just to add a shim washer. But much better than putting the entire thing back together and find you can't shift properly and then have to pull it all off again.

 

[1997_GSX]

The forks don't bend they break so unless it is broke it is fine. I would replace the pivot ball because they are cheap.. I have a new one and shimmed it with no ill effects.

 

[luv2rallye]

The forks don't bend they break...

This is true but it's also true that the fork wears right where it rides on the pivot ball which affects alignment. In fact that's one of the reasons you may need to shim the pivot ball - this very thing happened to me. I bought a new pivot ball, have new factory clutch, flywheel, etc and still had to put in a shim. There's no way to tell until checking the fork position thru the window after tranny is on.

 

[2GeNTSi]

I just replaced my rear main seal today and was trying to to figure out if I should check and see if I need my flywheel resurfaced. There is only about 30k on this flywheel (ACT Streetlite) with absolutely no launches or hard driving made on it (I baby my car for the fear of it falling apart ). I glanced it over and there are only heat spots on it from what I can tell. I'm not installing a new disc or pressure plate so I didn't think I needed to get it resurfaced. Any ideas?

Also to hopefully avoid any shifting problems, I plan to buy a new pivot ball and fork (already have a new OEM TOB ready to go on too). I'll have my fingers crossed.

 

[red94gsx]

I did have my clutch release fork bend on me about 6 months after I reinstalled the transmission. Definitely bent, as I compared it to the new fork I got.

They don't usually do that, and there's probably a 90% chance that yours won't do it, but still it really sucked that I had to do the job all over again. Just sayin'.