Rear main leak brand new X2!!

[gpse3400]

Yeah you got it

[3XTurboAgain]

ok so i need RTV on front and back of oil pan gasket where the tabs push in and meet the block.... I didnt quite understand what you said maybe you typed it quick. Im definatelye going to redo the oil pan gasket and see if i can stop the leaking... if it doesnt stop then ill have to remove the engine again.

[gpse3400]

you put RTV at the front cover-block-oil pan joint, and the rear main just on the outside from the ral seal to the ends anf on the ends of the oil pan gasket that tuck into thesmall space between the cap and the block.

They told me they polished a few spots on the crank i could ask them if they touched that area. Overfilling the engine and tilting it sounds like a good idea. Its my daily driver right now so it sucks... I hope its just the oil pan, i dont think i used silicone on it anywhere... Also are they any oil gallery plugs on the backside of the motor i could have missed? I have good vision but anything is possible. I wish i had a crankcase smoke leak machine then i could find out in 2 seconds where its coming from.

Theres a cover over the end of the camshaft bore from what I recall. I learned a long time ago to check every critical area of an engine you can think of after machine shop work. I recall having to remove a rebuilt cylinder head because one valve had not been seated, fortunately the engine was still on the stand where I performed a compression test and discovered it.

[3XTurboAgain]

They told me they polished a few spots on the crank i could ask them if they touched that area. Overfilling the engine and tilting it sounds like a good idea. Its my daily driver right now so it sucks... I hope its just the oil pan, i dont think i used silicone on it anywhere... Also are they any oil gallery plugs on the backside of the motor i could have missed? I have good vision but anything is possible. I wish i had a crankcase smoke leak machine then i could find out in 2 seconds where its coming from.

I've been through several V6 engines including pan removal and reinstallation and I never had a rear seal area leak and I don't recall paying particular attention to it during assembly. Perhaps there is a problem that keeps getting over looked. I would top off the engine before install and tilt it towards its back end for a while to see if it seeps oil. It just doesn't sound normal to me especially after two attempts to fix it.

Installed properly there just isn't much room for oil to leak out at that location considering how secure the one piece seal is. What kind of machine work was done and has any part of the seal surface on the crank been machined resulting in reduced seal lip pressure?

The machine shop doesn't do much V6 work I don't believe, maybe they're putting the seal on backwards, it's possible, I nearly did it when reinstalling the crank in the 3900 because of the way it looked.

[3XTurboAgain]

Actually i just talked to the machine shop and they said they used silicone ( a little bit) on the rear main cap. The rear seal they installed also was brand new for the second time and a O ring was replaced again.... i didnt use silicone on the pan gasket and my crankcase breathers are not hooked up so that might be my problem right there... that might explain it taking about a day or so to start leaking since i reinstalled the engine.. 60 degrees kicking my ass again.... whats new haha.

[3XTurboAgain]

Ok so im definately going to make sure i do this right this time. Would anyone happen to have pictures ? Also , is there anyway i could prove to the machine shop that they were supposed to use silicone? If i could prove this with a GM manual or soemthing i could probably get some of my money back for the inconvenience of pulling my motor for the 3rd time!

ok so between the rear main cap and the block and thats it? What about the seal itself? doesnt that get tapped in? Sorry for the confusion

I've noticed a good bit of sealant at the rear main cap joint and the oil pan gasket as well as between the cap and block itself on the engines I've disassembled.

[3XTurboAgain]

ok so between the rear main cap and the block and thats it? What about the seal itself? doesnt that get tapped in? Sorry for the confusion

[ForcedFirebird]

Ok so ill have to replace the seal and put silicone around it... sounds like a plan hope it works! Sucks pulling the motor again but it will be worth it. Sounds like a good time to replace rack , lines, subframe mounts/bushings...PMIII ... on and on ....

Not around it. Take the rear main bearing cap off and put silicone between it and the block (oil pan has to come off).

[3XTurboAgain]

Ok so ill have to replace the seal and put silicone around it... sounds like a plan hope it works! Sucks pulling the motor again but it will be worth it. Sounds like a good time to replace rack , lines, subframe mounts/bushings...PMIII ... on and on ....

[ForcedFirebird]

Still the 3100 was a once piece rear main seal, thats why I used it as an example, and the 3.1 3.4 3100 and 3400 blocks are pretty much identical when it comes to crank main bearings and mounting since well you can put a 3.1 crank in a 3100, well really they are the same crank...

Oh, I'm quite fimiliar with the 3500 and Gen1 blocks, I have Four cranks at the moment (all 981's) One is a true Gen1, no reluctor notches

[3400-95-Modified]

Still the 3100 was a once piece rear main seal, thats why I used it as an example, and the 3.1 3.4 3100 and 3400 blocks are pretty much identical when it comes to crank main bearings and mounting since well you can put a 3.1 crank in a 3100, well really they are the same crank...

[ForcedFirebird]

GM 3100 overhaul procedures from my Beretta manual

Mine is a Gen1 3.4, and checked 3.1 Firebird manual.

Like I said better safe than sorry, lol.