1993 240sx rear main seal?

[mmm240]

so my trans is leaking quite badly (took about 3 months for it to be undriveable ) so i have researched an come up with rear main seal. i think it is this because it only started leaking after i installed a stiffer trans mount. what i have heard on this site is the seal is where the trans meets the driveshaft, but when i read about it in my chilton it tells me: 1. remove transmission2. remove flywheel3. remove oil seal retainer... so on and so forth (about 7 more steps)what??? not at all what i read about here.

what is the truth? i don't have an FSM and my cpu won't let me download one.i am leaning toward it being the seal i have read about here that only takes minutes to replace, if so where can i find one (a better than stock one if possible)

[navysnail]

the rear main seal you are talking about that requires removing the transmission is the engine rear main seal. to do the tranmission rear main seal, all you have to do is remove the driveshaft. you should then be able to pull the old one out and replace it with the new one. Also remember that you will loose a little bit of gear oil so make sure you have somthing to catch it when you remove the driveshaft.

[rogoman]

You need to first determine exactly what is leaking; is it the engine or the transmission.

1 - Start the car up and let it idle for several minutes; if you see leaking at the bottom of the bellhousing, then the engine rear crankshaft seal needs to be replaced.

2 - To test for transmission leaks, jack up the rear of the car so that the tires clear the floor by about two inches; now place jack stands under the rear frame rails. Start the car up; shift the transmission into 4th gear and let it idle. Now look for any leaking at the bellhousing or at the rear of the transmission where the drive shaft connects.

The transmission itself has oil seals in the front and at the rear.

[mmm240]

thanks for clearing that up! it is definetely the trans that's leaking, is there such thing as an aftermarket seal i can get? (stronger than stock)

[navysnail]

not really. I would just buy an OEM seal.

[574-240sx]

You can get a rear main seal for the trans at Advanced Auto. It took a day to get in and I think it only cost $4.00 or so. Sometimes you can pull it out with some needle nose pliers or sometime you have to put a screw in it and pull it out.