on my last 292 I used sealer on the side seals with good results.if the seal comes with the rubber and nail I will go that way.

Mark. On high mileage Y engines, it does appear to be the rear main seal itself being the main culprit in regards to oil leaks. The other items on a high mileage engine contributing to those rear leaks to a lesser degree still includes the oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, valley cover gasket, and the oil pump. On fresh rebuilds, the side seals appear to be more of an issue and part of that is simply installer error. Installing one half of the seal or even both halves in backwards also seems to be happen more often than it should. And on the fresh rebuilds, oil pump leakage is also mistaken for rear seal leaks as well as oil pan gasket or oil pan bolt leakage in the rear seal retainer area. Side seals is still the source of the highest incidents of rear leakage though where the rear seals are being worked on. FE engines have essentially the same problems in the rear seal area as the Y engines when it comes to seal installation issues.

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Offsetting the neoprene seal halves just hasn’t been brought up recently on this site simply due to the much referenced detailed instructions that can be found at the following link.

http://www.eatonbalancing.com/blog/2008/09/10/neoprene-rear-seal-installation-for-the-y-and-others/

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Here’s a link to a past thread commenting on the ‘why’ for offsetting the neoprene seal halves.

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/FindPost69998.aspx

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

As I mentioned-I have never seen that suggestion here on the site when discussing rear main seals.It does help it avoiding leaks.

  

I offset the ends of the seals when I installed the rear seal on my engine. I believe that Ted recommends this in his article on rear seal installation.

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

Rather than having the ends of the seals line up with the ends of the caps you turn the seal enough that one end sticks out and the other is below the end of the caps.When you do both halves the ends still meet but not at the same "line" that the caps are.

  

Its not a very good idea?? explain that one more Mark. I got confused? Ted offsets, makes sense and easier to do on and engine stand, when under the car near impossible.



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

Thanks Ted! In your experience where are most of the leaks in the rear main-the actual crank seals or the side seals? One thing I have never seen mentioned in these discussions about rear main seals-is it a good idea to offset the ends of the seals so they don't line up with the parting lines of the retainer?Seems like this is recommended for many Fords with the 2 piece rear main seal.I realize that this would only work when replacing the seal with the motor in the car when using the neoprene type seal.

  

While I haven’t needed to forfeit the use of the rubber side seals and nails on either the Y or FE engines, I don’t see a problem with using RTV in the slots assuming that both of the slots can be successfully filled with the sealant. The key here is getting the RTV to the far end of the slots to insure there is not a void there in which oil can pass through to the back of the engine. I do put a small amount of RTV in each hole before starting the rubber seals in place and this RTV essentially helps to thoroughly seal the far end of the slot when the rubber seals are completely pushed in place.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Hi Ted! Whats your opinion on filling the side seal area with "The Right Stuff" sealer as opposed to just using the supplied side seals with the "nails"?This "repair" was suggested in the other topic regarding rear seal leaks.

  

I’ll say No. They both look the same and I’ve had the same good results with each. The Fel-Pro seal is simply easier to buy by itself on my end when I don’t need a full set of gaskets.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)