leaky rear main seal question
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 971
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From: new orleans louisiana
St. Jude Donor '14
leaky rear main seal question
Hey guys my car is at the shop now getting some wires repaired due to them rubbing against the headers and my mechanic called and said he has to remove the headers so he can get good access to the burnt wires, well I told him while my headers are down I would like for him to also inspect other components around the headers to make sure they're ok aswell.
He told me that he can tell that my car has a substantial oil leak thats coming from the rear main seal.now I know it has a little leak because I noticed small spots of oil in my drive way..I change my oil every 3k miles and only noticed that it gets 1/4 of a quart low so it's not that big of a deal yet, right?
Im asking cause he said its a lot of labor to get it fixed and that equals out to alot of money, which I don't have at the moment ..
I do plan on getting the clutch upgraded in a few months, so would/should the labor be a little cheaper since the clutch would be out the way?
Dose the clutch have to come out in order to do a rear main seal job?
He told me that he can tell that my car has a substantial oil leak thats coming from the rear main seal.now I know it has a little leak because I noticed small spots of oil in my drive way..I change my oil every 3k miles and only noticed that it gets 1/4 of a quart low so it's not that big of a deal yet, right?
Im asking cause he said its a lot of labor to get it fixed and that equals out to alot of money, which I don't have at the moment ..
I do plan on getting the clutch upgraded in a few months, so would/should the labor be a little cheaper since the clutch would be out the way?
Dose the clutch have to come out in order to do a rear main seal job?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 8,900
Likes: 1,074
From: Wisconsin
Hey guys my car is at the shop now getting some wires repaired due to them rubbing against the headers and my mechanic called and said he has to remove the headers so he can get good access to the burnt wires, well I told him while my headers are down I would like for him to also inspect other components around the headers to make sure they're ok aswell.
He told me that he can tell that my car has a substantial oil leak thats coming from the rear main seal.now I know it has a little leak because I noticed small spots of oil in my drive way..I change my oil every 3k miles and only noticed that it gets 1/4 of a quart low so it's not that big of a deal yet, right?
Im asking cause he said its a lot of labor to get it fixed and that equals out to alot of money, which I don't have at the moment ..
I do plan on getting the clutch upgraded in a few months, so would/should the labor be a little cheaper since the clutch would be out the way?
Dose the clutch have to come out in order to do a rear main seal job?
He told me that he can tell that my car has a substantial oil leak thats coming from the rear main seal.now I know it has a little leak because I noticed small spots of oil in my drive way..I change my oil every 3k miles and only noticed that it gets 1/4 of a quart low so it's not that big of a deal yet, right?
Im asking cause he said its a lot of labor to get it fixed and that equals out to alot of money, which I don't have at the moment ..
I do plan on getting the clutch upgraded in a few months, so would/should the labor be a little cheaper since the clutch would be out the way?
Dose the clutch have to come out in order to do a rear main seal job?
It might soften up the seal to slow the leak. It stopped oil consumption in my '01.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 971
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From: new orleans louisiana
St. Jude Donor '14
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 2,234
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From: Gulf Coast Mississippi
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15
I would wait and do it all at once, is your shop well versed on the c5 ? Are they a performance shop ? I would definitely try and use a shop that specializes in late model corvettes just for peace of mind and you would probably save money on the labor since they know all the tricks to doing this type of work on the C5. IMHO
Pro
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 553
Likes: 97
My rear main leaked also. During clutch replacement is a good time to have it replaced, it's a pretty big job and technically yes, the clutch comes out because you have to remove the flywheel to get to the seal. If you need a clutch, I'd definitely do both at the same time. 2004 Z06 clutch would be a nice factory upgrade for very little additional cost.
I'm sure the tech could tell where the leak was coming from but there is another possibility, the oil pressure sensor is in the worst possible place and is easily overheated and becomes deformed and finally leaks. Replace it with a brass sensor, the stock aluminum ones die quickly.
Also, most all LS1's eat oil through the breather system, ends up being consumed through the intake manifold. It's worse if you drive hard and pull G's. I found this out first hand when I removed the manifold to replace the pressure switch, it was full of oil. A catch can can help. Probably nothing to worry about.
I'm sure the tech could tell where the leak was coming from but there is another possibility, the oil pressure sensor is in the worst possible place and is easily overheated and becomes deformed and finally leaks. Replace it with a brass sensor, the stock aluminum ones die quickly.
Also, most all LS1's eat oil through the breather system, ends up being consumed through the intake manifold. It's worse if you drive hard and pull G's. I found this out first hand when I removed the manifold to replace the pressure switch, it was full of oil. A catch can can help. Probably nothing to worry about.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 971
Likes: 0
From: new orleans louisiana
St. Jude Donor '14
So if its a pretty big job, should I just have them remove the whole motor and rebuild it? Im have a nitrous kit and wanted to get it installed but now that its leaking and it has 105k miles im thinking about buying some new forged pistons, rebuild kit and what ever else thats necessary and then bring it to a shop with all my new parts and have them rebuild it..what will it cost? Maybe an extra $1k ontop of the cost to replace the rear main seal?..would that be a wiser decision?
