226 Rear Seal

[boatingbill]

The '51 Kaiser Shop Manual says to change the rear seal, just drop the pan and remove the
two bolts holding the filler block. This holds 1/2 the seal. How then do you access the filler
block guard to remove the other 1/2 half of the seal? The guard appears to be between the
crankshaft and the block. Does the guard have to be driven out ? The manual does not
mention this. Any help would be appreciated as my rear main is leaking and getting oil into
the clutch.

[Don C]

on e-bay. sneaky pete seal remove listed at about $10.00 also KD #492 seal remover and installer for about $17.00.Don C

[boatingbill]

Has anyone used the sneaky pete seal puller with success?

[vettelang]

back in the 60s and it worked like a champ.

[BigDave LM6174]

The problem I had at one time was a warped filler block, so bottom seal always leak.

[boatingbill]

I am trying not to belabor this, but pulling a rope seal out while it is under tension with a
sneaky Pete seems like the seal could shred and then I am in a jam. If I loosen the main
bearing caps and the flywheel is hanging on the crankshaft, wouldn't that cause stress on
the front seal? If I loosen the main bearings in just the rear of the engine would that help at all
to reduce tension on the rear seal? I guess I am trying to get all the info I can to tackle this,
so if someone has done this with the engine and trans in the car I would appreciate your
response. I gave a local garage a pan gasket and rear seal and $325. to install them and the
rear seal is still leaking. I doubt they replaced the upper half of the seal. They removed the air
cleaner and didn't know it was a oil bath and spilled oil all over, so I won't be going back. The
tractor repair garage in town was offered the job first, and they declined. Maybe they knew
it was difficult to do with the engine in the car.

[retired wrench]

 Dealing with a rope seal without removing the crank is problematic and marginally successful. The first thing to do is check the clearance of the rear main with plastic gauge. If the bearing too loose you are never going to seal it as the crank bouncing around will beat the seal out. I have used a drift punch on each side of the upper seal and packed it tighter. Use a piece of the new seal to fill in the voids. Pulling on a rope seal decreases the diameter of it.Just another approach.

[shadetree77]

Try this. Go to the link below. The fellow who runs the site is a good Buick buddy of mine by the name of Willie (AKA OldTank on the AACA forums). He and others have used his technique very successfully to stop rear main seal leaks. I'll be using it at some point as well. His trick involves inserting pieces of wire into the upper seal in order to expand it just enough to stop the leak. He absolutely swears by it and I trust his judgement. He is one of the most knowledgeable guys on the Buick forums and helps me tremendously. Good Luck!

http://www.buickrestorer.com/rearseal/rearseal.html

[retired wrench]

 Back in "the day" they sold like a flat wire that you drove in behind the upper seal. I never used one so cant comment on the success rate.



  wire

[boatingbill]

The manual doesn't say, but it looks like the drag link and inner tie rods have to removed to
bet the pan off. Is this correct?

[joefrazer]

Yes, removing them makes the job much easier.

[MilesP]

Just had my 55 rebuilt and it leaked at rear main my mechanic used a sneaky peat and solved the problem he told me it was difficult but obviously not impossible leak is now solved I think.