Hey everyone,

Doing a rear main seal and Im wondering how far the seal is supposed to go in? I have already put the new seal in, but its about 3 mm in from the side lip, and I don't want to put the tranny back on and have to take it off again...I can't really see any reason that it couldn't be that far in, but I don't want to be wrong! Thanks for the help.

 

There is a clearance specified by Honda from the back of the seal to the housing. I can't remember what it is, I want to say .060 but that sounds too big. The correct way to do it is to remove the seal housing, install the seal in the housing and replace the housing with the seal in it. That way you can measure the clearance. You can double nut the studs that come through the oil pan to remove them without having to remove the pan to get the housing out. That said, as long as you put the seal in square, it will probably be OK. A lot of people just push it in all the way. As long as the seal sits on a good part of the crank sealing surface you're fine. The cranks can develop a groove over time. I think the seals have a little give..

 

Ok, thanks! The tranny went on today, so I will just put it back together and hope it works!

 

Did it start to leak? Im in the same situation, I’m afraid to put the trans back on. (8th gen 1.8L, rear CS seal.

 

This ^^^