Oil leak

Mjfire1949 · Post by **Mjfire1949** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:41 pm

'52 M38, 24 volt, Serial # 65666, North Texas. Well, I got the rear main seal replaced with one from Midwest. The seal that was in there was destroyed. Still have a small oil leak from the bell housing. Not leaking anywhere near what it was. I guess it's the cam welsch plug next. I know it's a jeep, but I can't stand puddles of oil under a vehicle.

Bretto · Post by **Bretto** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 7:41 pm

Are you sure its motor oil. It very well could be gear oil from the tranny. Goodluck sealing everything up, many have tried.............

Mjfire1949 · Post by **Mjfire1949** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 9:58 pm

Yes, unfortunitly it is motor oil. The transfer was leaking, but only needed to be tightened. The guy I bought it from never heard of a torque wrench. Most of the leaks were due to loose bolts. I know they are all going to leak. Just a little bummed as today was the first time I fired it up after replacing the rear main seal. I'm trying to figure if one man can pull and reinstall the engine. I'm out by myself, so Im a little worried about getting it back in if I do pull it.

Post by **wesk** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 11:57 pm

I've pulled quite a few by myself. Alignment of the engine rear face to the bell can give you a wee bit of grief. I made two alignment studs that I thread into the top two holes in the block and she slides on fairly easy.

You said the old seal was destroyed, was it overheated? That is the normal failure mode.

I suggest you review the articles and photos in my photo sub-album L-134 & F-134 Crank Seals:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

skyjeep50 · Post by **skyjeep50** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 10:32 am

I re-installed a rebuilt engine in my M38 and actually had to pull it a couple of more times to fix some issues before everything was right. The lifting hook on the engine makes pulling the engine/trans/transfer with all accessories a snap. The power plant was designed to be pulled as a unit and although you can pull just the engine, I think pulling the entire works is easier. But that may be personal preference. The rear most eye of the lifting hook is used when pulling the entire power plant - lifts out level. If just pulling the engine, the front most eye will lift it level. Pulling and replacement is a one person job, you need an engine hoist. A second person can help guide the engine back in but one person can do it in stages - pushing here and there to guide it in. Pics are of my M38 power plant ngine and I also pulled my M38A1's power plant for some minor repairs.

Mjfire1949 · Post by **Mjfire1949** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 10:34 am

The seal that was in the vehicle was a lot wider than the one I got from Midwest. By "destroyed", I mean that the narrow part of the seal that goes into the small groove was completely torn away from the rest of the seal. Instead of two pieces of seal (upper and lower), there were four pieces (two upper and two lower. In addition, there were numerous nicks on the part of the seal that has numbers on it. The crank journal looked good; no pitting or burs. Oil had been leaking substansually from the rear part of the engine. Thanks for the comments and pictures. I'm going to get an engine hoist from Harbor Freight and try to get the nerve up to try and pull it. I have the manual that details the steps used to pull one. I'm trying to figure out how to attach a picture to a post. I don't know all of the correct nomenclatures for the parts I'm handling, and thus may be making things a little hard to understand on the other end.