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Which way does the rear main seal face?

Started by WH23G3G, May 17, 2009, 05:44:48 PM

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WH23G3G

I can't determine by the Fel-Pro instructions which way the rubber seals for the rear main seal should point. It says the side with the largest raised lip should face the front of the engine? I can't even tell which part is the raised lip. All I can tell is one side has a groove carved out into the seal. Then if you look at it the other way I see three steps of the seal. But I can't tell which one would be considered the largest. Here is a picture of each side. The one marked correct is facing the way with the groove carved out. Which is what a mechanic told me while I was at the parts store picking something up  but he was a GM guy. It makes more sense to me that the side with the three steps should face towards the engine because that's how I remember most seals going. The one marked not correct is facing the way where you can see the three raised steps on the seal. I definitely don't want to put this in the wrong way.

A383Wing

Can't tell from your picture...need a good clear picture of the "end" of the seal...rule of thumb is that the seal "lip" goes towards the oil side.....or as you put it, the engine side.

Look down at the seal like you were installing the crank into it...there will be a "lip"....that is what you are supposed to look at...not the side of the seal

WH23G3G

I guess I still don't know what the instructions refer to when they say lip. The whole seal looks like a lip seal. I already installed the upper seal and hopefully it's the right orientation towards the front of the engine. I removed the lower bearing retainer and took this picture. Can you tell if it's facing the correct way? I haven't put any RTV and the water absorbing inserts in yet until I know for sure.

firefighter3931

68 Charger R/T "Black Pig" Street/Strip bruiser, 70 Charger R/T 440-6bbl Cruiser. Firecore ignition  authorized dealer ; contact me with your needs

A383Wing

See the "raised lip" on the right side of the seal?  That needs to face the engine side of the crank...both top & bottom need to face the "oil" side....

WH23G3G

So if I'm reading right looking at my picture and the end of the seal I can see the seal is cut and goes up like steps. Looking at the end of the seal and seeing the "Steps" does that mean that top step should be pointing towards the front? That's the way I had it installed if so because that's the way the mechanic at the parts store told me. I've been reading all over the internet about Mopar rear main seal leaks and have seen so many stories and posts about rebuilds with leaking rear main seals that can't be stopped. So I want to do all I can to keep this from leaking by doing it the correct way.

WH23G3G

I verified with an engine builder/machine shop that I had the rear main lip seal facing the correct way so I torqued it all down to 30FT-LBS today. I'm following the instructions that came with my rear main seal in my Fel-Pro engine gasket kit. Next step is to fill the side seal cavities with RTV until it comes out, dip water absorbing inserts in water and put them in the block side seal cavities. After that it should be it other than putting on the oil pan gaskets. But there is one more instruction on the Fel-Pro instruction sheet that confuses me. It says "Attach and align seal retainer gasket. Apply a thin coat of gasket sealer to both sides of gasket(s)." What seal retainer gasket? It doesn't include one. It wasn't packaged wrong either because we had a bunch in stock and they are all like that. What do they mean seal retainer gasket? Does it apply to the 400?