rear main oil leak

The easy way I use to pull the Ford one piece seal out of the block is to take a 5/8 inch long self tapping screw, the pointed kind not the ones with a drill head on the face.
Drill close to the outer edge of the seal but make dang sure you do not touch the block surface with the screw.   I use a battery powered drill to install the self tapping screw into the old seal.   Leave the screw about 1/8 inch loose. Take a flat bar Nail puller and use the end of it to slowly and carefully pull the seal out of the block. Sometimes I have to put three screws in and work all the sides to get it out. Sometimes they come right out with one screw.
Before pulling the seal or installing the screw look really hard at the seal and surrounding surfaces for your leak.   Make dang sure your leak is not coming down from above the seal.   Tap the new seal in with a flat surface. I use a piece of 1/4 inch steel 2 inch wide by 4 inch long.   You have to work around the edges of the seal on install and tap it in till flush all around.   It must be flush and straight in the bore to work.
$850. please sing me up also, Could do 4 of these in a day and I am old. I hope you are running again soon. consider adding a Speedi Sleeve to make sure your crank surface will work.

my builder found the correct rear main seal, charged me $850 to replace last one that was the wrong one sent to him by Rapido Marine. If its gonna cost that much again I'm going to try it myself. Thought that was really high due to the fact that they just put the engine together and runs fine other than the seal leaking. I have been studying on how to do it. If anybody has any video's on replacing seal would be appreciated.

Gary S wrote: KENO wrote: So......tell me, how'd you find it? Or is that a secret?    Don't tell anyone Ken,I have a couple of their catalogs. I find what their part number is then check the web site for current info

Don't worry Gary, your secrets safe with me

8122pbrainard wrote: Ken, I was curious so I just did a search on Skidims site. All I did was to enter "rear main seal" in the site's search and the RR seal is at the top of the page.

Thanks for enlightening me Pete

Sometimes I'm not too smart.

Just tried that and there it was just like you said.

If you go to the menu on the left side and look at "seals engine" it doesn't show up there but plenty of other rear main seals do

Go figure

Gary S wrote: Seal on skidim site

Hi Gary

You must be some kind of magician to find that on the skidim site.

I went to the oil seal section and it's not listed there but if I search for the number 1141 then it shows up.

It must be in the super double secret high priced seal section hidden so well that I wouldn't have a clue where to find it

So......tell me, how'd you find it? Or is that a secret?   

I wonder if Guy has a seal on the way?

Thanks KenO,

Those wick lines on the crank are known as a helix.   They are designed to sweep the oil back into the engine while it runs.   If your crank is smooth no need to address the helix but as instructed there are reverse rotation seals and you will need one.
Fel-Pro offers part number 17748 for the Ford 351W Reverse Rotation two piece rear main.
Fel-Pro can be ordered at any local parts store and most can have it the same or next day.
Specs can be seen at:
http://www.fme-cat.com   choose Pleasure Marine Model 5.8 Liter V8 5.8L 351 Ford Engine;    And available parts show up.
Edit:
I see you are looking for the One Piece Seal and Fel-Pro does not offer that reverse rotation one piece seal today.
The one piece seals are easy to install, you don't need to drop the pan but would need to remove the tranny or slide it back out of the way.
You might have a issue with the crankshaft surface. They sell Speedi Sleeves, these sleeves slip over the crankshaft to give you a brand new surface for the seal to work on.
They work and have been a standard repair item for years.   Two have leaked I would consider installing a speedi sleeve.
Fel-Pro S[eedi sleeve #16251, would need a tool to install properly part # 16301, probably $50 for both but it can fix a leak.
If your crankshaft was high mileage at time of rebuild it may have had a groove where the rear main seal ran. The grooves can get deep and leak, That is what a speedi sleeve can fix.    Also make sure the engine PVC is working and you don't have pressure build up causing your leak.

Sorry for the confusing post. The way I understand is that 83 and on smooth crank, needs
a seal with wick lines. The replacement seal repido marine sent because the one that was in their remanufactured engine was wrong. They also sent the replacement that was smooth and was wrong. .I need seal part# R047041A which is hard to find. Thanks

Ford 351 RR from 71 -82 will take a RH 2 piece seal
Ford 351 RR from 83 on will take a RH 1 piece seal
I don't think Ski DIm sells these anymore, they cost about $80 each 10 years ago. The LH ones were much less..

And they don't have to machine out any wick lines because like TRB said the later ones are smooth on the crank and the lines are in the seal

2 piece and 1 piece seals don't interchange and neither do the crankshafts that those seals work with

Do a search on here, you'll find plenty of info

Take a picture of the seal that was in the engine and post it.

Professional shops stand behind the work they do. It is not OK to do a repair and claim no responsibility for it working. He took your money, make him fix it for free. It is his fault.
If he does not understand how to repair a rear main seal leak that is his problem not yours.
If the engine manufacturer sent your engine out with the wrong seal they are on the hook for your repair.   Some do print the warranty is Out of Chassis. If you agree to that the repair labor is on you and the parts are on them.
Good Luck with the repair.

A one-piece seal block (early 80's or newer on the 351w) does not feature any wick lines on the crank- the oil control is handled by the seal.

Thanks for the info! He is looking for a part # for the seal. Said may be wrong one again. Trouble finding part numbers for seal. Don,t think there is any wick lines on this engine crank,. will a sleeve help that. Does there have to be wick lines for reverse rotation motor.

it is possible a crank with the wrong rotation oil scroll was used but with out disassembly there is no way to be sure, I don't think that by removing the seal that you can see in there but I'm not sure. If that were the trouble a speedi sleeve might solve the problem, I had the same issue on my HM in the days before forums. Also not sure if a sleeve can be installed with the crank in place either, I took mine apart and had a engine shop do the it

Here's your problem - in the 80's Ford changed their blocks from a 2 piece seal to a one piece seal so you either have one or the other. As you found out a 2 piece seal will go in place but will not seal a 1 piece seal block and a 1 piece seal will not go into a 2 piece seal block. This we have to assume because you cannot fit a 1 piece seal in a 2 piece seal block. You need to use the correct seal for the block you are using and to complicate matters more you need to use a reverse rotation seal also. I guess I'm confused in that your mechanic who installed the seal won't stand behind his work and correct the leak,sounds as if he does not know what he is doing if in fact he's installing a 2 piece seal in a newer block.

Any opinion on what to do next? Know a mechanic that can fix? I live in Ohio but will drive to get it fixed. Have too much invested now to quit! It leaked with the one piece seal and with the 2 piece seal. Got charged to pull engine to replace one piece with 2 piece which did not fix.