[V8] Rear Main Seal

[Jeremy Ward]

<<snip>>
If you are just talking about the seal itself I got one of the
conventional rubber spring types last year for about 9 bucks
<<snip>>

The double seal (sans metal plate) was available to me for $14.90.  I
opted to spend the extra money as an insurance policy as I had heard
that buying it as an assembly gave better chances of no leaks as opposed
to pressing a new seal in an old plate.

Not sure what good it did me as I now have a small oil leak (right on
the damn exhaust 'X', too!)  I haven't had a chance to look to see where
the leak is coming from...

- Jeremy


BTW, here are my notes (received emails) from last June.  Might help
Justin or others...

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If it was me...

I would get the rear cover gasket and a seal. If the new cover comes
with a gasket, then that might be a good idea for only about $50 extra.
The seal is a piece-o-cake to press into the cover once it is off the
car. I did it with a block of hard wood and a hammer. You could bring
the parts to a shop and have it pressed in if you wanted. If you try to
replace the seal on the car, you will need some expensive seal
puller/installer tools, and you might still have a gasket leak. You also
risk scratching the crank. The hard part is getting the seal onto the
crank without popping the seal's lip spring off. If you also have the
upper/lower oil pan off, you can see this.

Also, put a little gasket sealer at the rear cover to upper oil pan
junction. This is a good spot for a leak. You may want to consider new
gaskets here too - but you can always replace these just by removing the
sub-frame.

dsaad at icehouse.net 
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With the trans out, remove the bolts holding the flex plate on. Remove 
the flex plate. Then you decide if you are going to replace the plate 
w/seal or just the seal. The seal is about 10.00. The plate and seal is 
about 110.00. Every Audi mech I spoke with recommended replacing the 
plate and seal together. Audi actually came out with it this way due to 
problems with correct seal installation and subsequent leakage. I think 
the assembly also fits the 2.8 V6 - can't remember. But it is definitely

not a V8 only part.
The plate and seal assembly even comes with replacement bolts for the 
bottom 2 which come up through the 2 holes in the bottom. One look and 
you can see how it all works. It has a plastic guide for the correct 
installation of the seal, since it is a double lip seal it has to be 
guided on correctly to seal properly. Nothing to difficult about it at
all. About a 1/2 hour extra. Faster with an impact wrench.

FYI the part number for the plate is 077 103 171G

v8q at bellsouth.net 
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The seal plate on the back of the V8 is definately a V8 only part. The
seal itself is also used in 4's, 5's, and 6's.

DasWolfen at aol.com 
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