rear main seal 62 T Bird

[jack&chris]

WE replaced the rear main seal and it continues to leak what have we done wrong

[simplyconnected]

Sometimes rear main seals are 'finicky'. They need to be done right.
The factory produced 1,000 FE engines per day without leaks, so it can be successfully done. Re-install following your Shop Manual.

[jopizz]

Are you sure it's the rear main seal and not an oil plug.

John

[Mickey's 63]

did you offset rope seal from main caps?

[cuul59]

Mickey, I always thought that you only had to offset a neoprene seal, not a rope seal. Seems that would be hard to do with that rope material. Can you clarify how to do this with a rope seal please? I'm about ready to do this job and want to get it right.
As for the original question, if jack and chris used a neoprene seal, the most common errror is putting the seal in backwards. The seal lip should face forward, toward the engine. That way when oil pressure is present it presses the seal more tightly against the surface to form a tighter seal.

[scumdog]

In reply to cuul59 commenting on incorrect installation of a neoprene seal:
on advice I installed one the ‘wrong’ way in a 429 Ford.
The reason I was told to do that was because the crank seal journal had ‘sipes’ (small grooves) that were designed to wipe the oil in towards the pan from the rope seal, I was told the sipes would tear up the lip of the neoprene seal.
So putting the neoprene seal in backwards allowed it to rub on the smooth part of the journal, so far it works ( for 20+ years) but you need a good PCV system or oil will seep past the rear seal.!