Rear Main Seal,Pick-Up Screen...

[HighMileage]

My GN has 80,000mi or so. Recently my rear seal started leaking.

I was told that I am probably gonna find that my oil screen will be plugged with the rope-seal fibers,etc when I go in there to change the seal. That is assuming my pan has never been dropped.

Sure enough,it was. So maybe its a good idea to drop the pan and check this out if you haven't already. ??

 

[earlbrown]

Odd. I've never head of the pickup being clogged with rope seal parts.... timing chain teeth, yes, but not rope seal.


You might want to look inside the oil pump and see what it looks like. If the picture is accurate, it would appear you've been using the bypass flap for a while.

 

[GNONYX]

while you do plan on replacing the rear end seal, and if you haven't done it already, you might want to replace the front seal, timing chain, and cam button, since the original cam sprocket teeth is cover with nylon.

 

[HighMileage]

while you do plan on replacing the rear end seal, and if you haven't done it already, you might want to replace the front seal, timing chain, and cam button, since the original cam sprocket teeth is cover with nylon.

The idea was to replace the leaky rear main. It was the original rope seal which practically fell right out of the cap,and easily pulled out of the block.

It looked as if someone had already had the front cover off judging from the gasket goop on the front of the pan.

An added bonus was finding the tensioner spring in one piece,in the bottom of the pan.

The stuff in the screen was fiberous. Fibers like the wasted seal. ...strange.

 

[GNONYX]

That " added bonus of finding the tensioner spring in one piece,in the bottom of the pan." just cost you to remove the timing cover and inspect the timing chain, cam button, cam sprocket and maybe replace the front seal again.
Don 't bother cleaning the oil pickup tube, for the cheap cost you can get a replacement.

 

[HighMileage]

That " added bonus of finding the tensioner spring in one piece,in the bottom of the pan." just cost you to remove the timing cover and inspect the timing chain, cam button, cam sprocket and maybe replace the front seal again.
Don 't bother cleaning the oil pickup tube, for the cheap cost you can get a replacement.

That's exactly what we did. ...replaced the tube.

The front cover looks as if it has been off. Plus the engine sounds really quiet mechanically. Not even a click or tap. Wouldn't I hear the chain slap?

I do plan on replacing the cam with a roller,and the timing chain along with it.

For now I'm gonna drive it. My guess is the spring fell in when the orig chain was replaced.

No traces of nylon teeth in the pan at all.

I've got the number of the prev owner. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to call after 4 years.

 

[GNONYX]

If you read what you wrote "My guess is the spring fell in when the orig chain was replaced", doesn't sound right.
Even if the previous owner replaced the timing chain and all, you would think he would at least remove the oil pan if he saw the tensioner spring was missing during the replacement.
I wouldn't want to have a spring or any metal floating and splashing around inside the oil pan, as I'm driving high speed or driving on a bumpy road.

 

[HighMileage]

I'm thinking that maybe the prev owner had a shop replace the timing chain,and it fell in while they were working on it.

The guy before me didn't/couldn't do any type of work. He didnt even know enough to pull the fuse when the brake lights were stuck on. (he pulled all of the bulbs from the rear light harness)

It didn't look broken. At any rate,it gives me an excuse to put a roller in it this winter.

But tonight it's running great in this cool Northeast air. ....and I'm not sucking oil thru the flapper hole.

If I get another TR someday,part of my "spring cleaning" will be oil pan removal and rear seal replacement.