Main Seal Leak?

[antonnyc]

Over the past 2 weeks I noticed a small leak of coolant in my garage and lastnight it seemed to leak alot more than normal. I took it to my indy shop and they showed me the leak was coming from somwhere between the motor and tranny. He couldnt pin point it. He thinks it can be a freeze plug issue somwhere in there( is there one there)?....The only way to see the issue is to remove the tranny. I DO NOT want to remove the tranny....

My dad always said once the main seal leaks DUMP IT and DUMP IT QUICK! Now my dad says just add coolant and keep an eye out on it daily.....lollololol

Has this happened to anyone or eve heard of it?

[jst2878]

check your valleypan gasket. this is a common problem over 75k mi. Under the intake manifold there is the valleypan, it tends to leak on the m62 engines. If you have the 3.0 it still could be, i just dont know about that motor.

[antonnyc]

i have a 4.4

[vinuneuro]

Engines never have freeze plugs in that location. It's probably a leak that originates higher up.

Btw, rear main seal is the oil seal that's behind the flexplate/flywheel.

[RPX5]

Originally Posted by vinuneuro

Engines never have freeze plugs in that location. It's probably a leak that originates higher up.

Btw, rear main seal is the oil seal that's behind the flexplate/flywheel.

Sorry to bump in.. does the oil seal often wear out as the car inches up 75K+? My indy mentioned I would need a new seal, and pointed out some spongy hoses in that area, and said that I should replace my oil separator as well.. what do you think? I guess all the parts are pretty cheap but it's a b*tch to remove all panels and components at the top/rear of the engine bay, but once there, she said he should get it all done at once since all the worn parts are in the same vicinity. How much "should" this run to fix?

[jst2878]

if your doing the oil seperator your no where near the rear main seal...thats a whole other can of worms

[Weasel]

I wouldn't worry about the rear main oil seal unless it happens to start leaking, or you have the transmission removed for some reason... otherwise it should be out of site, out of mind.

To the OP, the coolant leak that looks like it is coming from between the engine and trans would most likely be the coolant valley pan, but could also be the heater hoses as they are back there too.

[antonnyc]

is there any diagram or can someone point it out to me where this valley pan is......Some days its leaks alot and then some it doesnt leak but two three drops........

Im a bit scared by the whole thing as summer is here and the A/C is in use....

[Quicksilver]

Your best bet IMHO is to take your vehicle to a reputable
dealer and let them find the leak. Then if you want to
go back to your indy to have them fix the problem then
do so. Either way guessing about what it might be
and continuing to add coolant won't fix the problem.

Sometime you just got to bite the bullet cough up the
coins and fix it.

[BMWFiend]

Originally Posted by antonnyc

Over the past 2 weeks I noticed a small leak of coolant in my garage and lastnight it seemed to leak alot more than normal. I took it to my indy shop and they showed me the leak was coming from somwhere between the motor and tranny. He couldnt pin point it. He thinks it can be a freeze plug issue somwhere in there( is there one there)?....The only way to see the issue is to remove the tranny. I DO NOT want to remove the tranny....

My dad always said once the main seal leaks DUMP IT and DUMP IT QUICK! Now my dad says just add coolant and keep an eye out on it daily.....lollololol

Has this happened to anyone or eve heard of it?

The best way to find the leak is to do a dye test, rather than guess. A dye test is when they put a dye into your antifreeze, drive the car 10-30 miles (depending on how bad the leak is) and then use an ultraviolet light see exactly where the the leak is. The dye glows green under the light. The test is 50 - 90 bucks usually. but first you have to have an undercarriage wash done on your car to clear out the old antifreeze that leaked. Some carwashes have a lift outside for this specific task. they may ask if you want your engine washed at the same time, tell em no. Most places just use water, when they should be using a combination of wd-40 and gasoline, and fr the undercarriage wash usually they use some type of degreaser mix. go straight to the shop to put the dye in after the wash, or put the dye in yourself, it comes in a little bottle you just add to your antifreeze, and this should all be done on a dry day when there are no puddles around