krowe111

I recently had my 2002 Tracker (2.0 l) in to the dealership and they said it had a "rear main seal leak".

I haven't had any oil drips on the snow so I am wondering how I can check to make sure it really needs to be replaced.

Thanks for the help.


Kevin

oldchevy

If you don't see drips then don't worry about it. Check the oil level occasionally to see if it is going down slowly.

kevinkpk

Since you have snow, I'd go along with oldchevy not worry about it for now. I'd recommend pulling the dust cover off the bell housing.

tech2

+3

a small rear main seep on a 10 year old vehicle...fix it when the leak gets big...which may be never... just don't tow with it.

krowe111

Thanks for the tips. I figured that it was a way to get me to have some work done when it was not really required.

I will keep an eye on it and once the snow is gone I will get it up on axle stands and check things out.

Again. thanks for the help.


Kevin

Jeff Collision

You will have the smoke from the oil leaking on/under your engine and burning. At least, that is my understanding of it. The repair is cheap. So I would say to check around and get it fixed soon.

tech2

its a one piece seal. the engine and trans will have to come apart. it won't be cheap.

krowe111

I was quoted $1,500.00 to fix it, which is why I was trying to find out how serious a problem it is.

I'll check with the local GM dealer and see what they want to fix it.


Kevin

tech2

at your next oil change, ask to see the leak.

the-herb420

I am a lube technician and own a 2002 chevy tracker 4cyl with over 300,000km (only one owner since new) and have seen the small sweat around the main seal about 20,000km's ago. since then the small sweat has turned into a decent leak now. the worst part about the main seal leak is the oil drips down main seal and onto the exhaust (post headers right near the O2 sensor)

Because the repair is too time consuming and costly and simply not worth the effort with the kilometers on the car. My simple fix is a high mileage oil (valvoline Max Life) with a full bottle of Lucas oil stabilizer. Used to run only AMSOIL synthetic in the car but with the mail seal leak the AMSOIL just pisses out.

My advise would be use a high mileage oil and Lucas oil stabilizer (stay away from STP and other cheap alternative additives)

One more thing, stick to the 5w30 grade of oil, most believe to add a thicker oil to prevent leaking (ex. 10w30 in 5w30 engine) this is possibly the worst thing to do. Reason being the thicker oil puts extra pressure on the worn and leaking seal and will result in more leaking.

Hope this helps!