Rear main seal removal and installation tips?

[ca18hatch24]

Does anyone here have any experience removing and installing the rear main seal on the ca18det? Isn't it supposed to just pop out? Mine has been giving me fits. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[boost_boy]

Use a seal puller or (carefully) flathead screwdriver and maneuver the seal out of its housing. It's not that big of a mission, but make sure you put the new seal on square and evenly or you will run into a bit of trouble.

[s13drifter88]

I dont like to use pullers, screwdrivers or anything to pry with around the end of the crank. Id remove the little plate that the seal presses into and then pull the seal out using a seal puller. it also gives a chance to reseal the little plate as it should be re-sealed everytime you replace the rear main seal.

[boost_boy]

I dont like to use pullers, screwdrivers or anything to pry with around the end of the crank. Id remove the little plate that the seal presses into and then pull the seal out using a seal puller. it also gives a chance to reseal the little plate as it should be re-sealed everytime you replace the rear main seal.

You do what you gots to do to make stuff happen for you, but you're not going to be pulling that seal housing off with the engine in the car without creating a massive headache for yourself, so please don't make it sound so easy "It's not"... I've done this even as a novice and creates no problems at all. Seal pullers were made for this and screwdrivers work for me as well (I prefer the screwdrivers). In case you've never been in this area, you do realize that housing has a very special "U" gasket atteched to it, is also heavily siliconed and the oil pan is attached to it . Rule #1, know what you're messing with before you mess with it or you'll get messed-up because you "THOUGHT" you knew what you were messing with.

[s13drifter88]

when i replace the rear main in an s13 i always unbolt the motor mounts and lift up the engine a little bit and suppoirt it, drop the oil pan and reseal it and remove the housing for the main seal and reseal it and install the new seal. its not that bad at all. its a little bit time consuming but its just my prefered method. I replaced the rear main in my ka (didnt pull the housing) and 2 months later my oil pan started leaking. thats when I devised my "reseal it all" method. to word it how I see it in my head it'd be like replacing only 1 compression ring to me on a rebuild (speaking metaphorically). I just hit it all in 1 pass for preventative maint. kinda like changing the water pump on a honda when you replace the timing belt. Not to be rude either, but Ive been in this area countless times on countless vehicles.

[boost_boy]

when i replace the rear main in an s13 i always unbolt the motor mounts and lift up the engine a little bit and suppoirt it, drop the oil pan and reseal it and remove the housing for the main seal and reseal it and install the new seal. its not that bad at all. its a little bit time consuming but its just my prefered method. I replaced the rear main in my ka (didnt pull the housing) and 2 months later my oil pan started leaking. thats when I devised my "reseal it all" method. to word it how I see it in my head it'd be like replacing only 1 compression ring to me on a rebuild (speaking metaphorically). I just hit it all in 1 pass for preventative maint. kinda like changing the water pump on a honda when you replace the timing belt. Not to be rude either, but Ive been in this area countless times on countless vehicles.

To each his own my brother . I just did the front crankshaft seal on my 2k2 maxima's VQ35DE and it took less than 3 minutes out, prep and clean, then install new seal with the fingers. Perfect fit with no leakage. I've been at it for a while, so I've grown accustomed to the good, the bad and the ugly. And I've been down that road of extra work and no pay, so preventive maintenance is definitely understood and practiced.

[ca18hatch24]

Thanks everyone for your help. I already had the motor out, so I chose to go ahead and remove the oil pan, and then removed the seal retainer. Still had to use a bench vise and a mallet to get the old seal out (don't worry I didn't scratch anything). New seal went right in, no problems, and then used gasket maker on everything. I figured I might as well do some preventive maintenance while the motor was out. Thanks again.