I wanted to say THANKS!!!! to this forum, the people who wrote the how-to articles with pics in the FAQ section, and especially to those who have answered my many questions and helped me along the way.

I'm officially halfway... here is my rear main seal.

 

Are you running automatic or standard tranny? How big of a pain in the *** was it to get the tranny out? I hope this day for my vehicle never comes... knock on wood... because it sounds like a bitch to do. Especially since you have to have small hands to work on these damn machines...

 

What is this about? Half way to what?

Glad it's moving along, anyway.

<- kind of a big guy, really can't complain.

 

I'm halfway through my replacing rear main seal project.

Pity, I have a manual tranny, and but for that one stupid frozen bolt on my exhaust pipe, the process has been going very smoothly.

I am a petite girl with little hands, so I got that part covered. But, there were many bolts I could not break without my 6'4" and very strong buddy helping me.

 

when i removed my transmission when i went from auto to manual, i never had to remove the exhaust pipe, whats the point of removing it again?

 

I removed exhaust pipe A when I dropped my transmission. I think it would have gotten in the way.

 

Sometimes it's pretty hard to get the bolts out for the transmission stiffener's and the inspection plate with the exhaust on. Now that I think of it i'm pretty sure I have left it on before though.

 

I'm not sure I could have gotten the rear support bolts off without removing the pipe. Plus, since I am a beginner and don't really know what I'm doing, I've been trying to strictly follow the how-to article/service manual instructions. Both sets of instructions told me to remove it.

 

Did you pull your trans JUST to change your rear main? or is this a 'while you're in there' job with a clutch service/swap?

P.S.: you need to find the macro button on your camera, it looks like a little flower.

 

I just did this on my B16 and I followed the manual to the teeth and the whole process was nice and smooth. My rear main seal was leaking so I replaced the clutch at the same time. Removing the stuff is easy, but putting the transmission back on is the pain in the ****. I found it easier to wrap the transmission and hoist it from the garage beam ceilings with one of those special ties that you can lift litthe by little. This gave me more room to move the transmission around and align it properly. For breaking the bolts loose, use a bar from the jack to get extra leverage/torque.

I'm cleaning everything off nice and torquing everything to specs according to the book, so it's taking a little longer, but I already have the transmission back on.

 

Also, I found it much easier to remove the side cover in order to remove/reinstall the rear main seal. It's much easier to have the cover off the car so you can press the seal out and press it back in. Putting the cover back on is a snap with the seal already installed on it.

 

Maybe you cleaned off the oil, but in the picture it doesn't look like the seal was leaking.

 

Did you also check the Front main seal on the transmission? Replace the drive shaft seals for the cv axles? The oil pan seal is a huge candidate for replacement (it would not require you to remove the transmission again). My only leak at 250K miles was the oil pan. It may look like a rear main leak to boot. Removing the gasket (it is originally a separate rubber gasket) is a super large pain in the a$$. They might as well be factory bonded together at that many miles. Took a lot of elbow grease, plus dipped clean all the mounting nuts, washers, and bolts, including the inspection plate hardware.

 

Justin, I did this to change the seal only. My clutch was replaced in Dec. '09 when I had my tranny bearings replaced. I did not know then to ask the mechanic to go ahead and replace seal too. Then, last summer after noticing I was losing oil, I took it back to the shop and the rear seal leak was diagnosed... and was quoted $600 to fix. I've been living with the leak ever since. But after a scare a few weeks ago from not keeping oil topped off, I decided to replace the seal so I won't have to worry about it anymore.

Ron, I did not clean seal before taking the picture, but I feel oil on it from the 3pm-7pm position, assuming top of picture is noon. I am assuming that if the seal was not leaking, then it would be entirely dry like it is from 7pm-3pm?

 

Pic is a little blurry for a proper diagnosis, but it does look like it was leaking a little, i've definitely seen worse but i'd absolutely replace it.

 

If there is oil on the seal definitely replace it. I just couldn't be certain by looking at the picture.

 

Thanks for the reassurance that the seal is bad.

Had to work all day yesterday so I could not continue my civic project... but hope to get a few hours in this morning before work to at least get the clutch/plate re-installed.

I will let you guys know how it turns out, assuming I don't have another step I get stuck on. In that case, I will create a new thread for more help!

 

Every toolbox should hold one of these.

 

LOL, Elle. It's the handiest tool I have in my kit!

OK, old seal is out... and new seal is in. Here's a pic of the seal out of the car... ewwww, it was nasty.

 

Is that snow behind the seal??? Must be freezing out there...

 

yup, that is snow you see. I live in a ski resort town... and average about 350 inches of snow every winter at my house!

 

I officially completed my rear main seal project yesterday... and like magic, my civic started right up and drove like a dream. Yay!

Thanks again for all the tricks, tips, and support!