rear main seal leak-can't be fixed???

'96 non turbo 5 cy glx 850glt with 130k...highly maintained..developed a
rear main seal leak...took to mechanic...returned dry...about 300 miles
started leaking again...returned to mechanic...same deal....3rd
time...just back last night...appears to have oil on case spit location
on bottom of engine....hosed off and about to drive a few
miles....help! is this sealing a problem? i was under the impression
that this was a "click-click" fix......you pays your $$ and it's dry for
another 130k miles.....please enlighten me................experiences?
suggestions? obsrvations?

regards

 

oil leaks can be tough to id...one method ( to verify it is
leaking from the rear seal ) is to have your mechanic
use the dye and florecent light to verify ......

 

Hi,

I bought a '96 850 non turbo in 2000 (4 years old), and almost immediately
the rear seal started leaking severely. It was fixed under warranty. The
car has done about 80,000km since without even a drop of oil showing from
the seal.

The spot you have the oil leaking from does seem to be the rear oil seal.

At the time, advice on the web seemed to indicate that '96 850's had a rear
seal problem. The mechanic who fixed mine took 3 days, and said he had to
send back 2 seals "that he didn't like". To me that suggests that maybe
there was an old one and a new improved one.

Replacement of the seal entails dropping the front sub frame to remove the
gear box from underneath and is not generally a do-it-yourself job. Not for
me anyway.

Good luck, it can be fixed properly.

regards
barry

 

I had the same experience on my '95 850. It leaked a few drops very
early on and the new seal, which was replaced under warranty, has served
very well for over 130,000 miles.

 

I have a '97 850 and the rear engine seal leaked for some time, small
oil spot on the driveway. I had the PCVs replaced and haven't had a
problem in the last 15,000 miles. Total mileage thus far, 93,000.