Hello all, The rear main seal on the Maverick in my signature is leaking. Not bad, but, I want to tackle it. I have changed these before. This car has never been into and I believe these had the "rope type" seals. I have changed these before on a 1978 Ford Thunderbird and my 1974 Maverick. The Maverick had a 3.3 liter six and the Thunderbird had a 351W. I had no trouble with the Maverick or the Thunderbird. I used a corkscrew and pulled the old seals out. Now for my questions: Is there enough room after I drop the belly bar to remove the oil pan or do I still need to take the motor mounts loose and jack up the engine to get the pan out? Does this engine have a "spike" that is designed to hold this "rope type" rear main seal in place? I don't know if this is year dependent or not. The others I did did not. Dad tells me I will need to drop the crankshaft to get that out. Opinions, please. Thanks, Craig.
You need to remove the belly bar and the stabilizer bar than rise the engine to remove the oil pan. Than loosen the piston rods and crank journals. Than you can replace the seal. There is no spike that hold the seal. What I do is use a sealer to coat the seal so it will not move. The main seals are rubber. Good luck
Thanks for your reply. So, I will need to raise the engine. I'll get that done. I think that belly bar just bolts into place, and the sway bar bolts are new. ( I just installed a new stabilizer kit front and rear, so, the bolts are new and not rusted.) I'll let you know how it comes out. Thanks, Craig.
If you have a V-8...You can remove the pan by dropping the belly bar, unbolting the idler arm and pulling down on the center link...This will give you plenty of room to pull the pan w/o pulling engine mounts/lifting engine... Also... When I pulled the unmolested 302 apart in my 72 mav years ago to go through it...The main seal groove in the block DID have the locating pin in place till I pulled it out...
This is the way I did my 250 six except I had to remove one of the mounts to clear the oil pan. The other mount cleared.
All early 302 had a spike in the main cap, not the block, for the rope seal. You will need to hit it with a punch and remove it all the way if you plan on putting in a rubber seal (I hope so). Sometimes the rope seal gets stuck in there really well so you may have to drop the crank just enough to get it out.
Gentlemen: Thanks for all your replies. I did drop the stabilizer bar and remove the idler arm. I removed the belly bar. I loosened the oil pan and had plenty of room to remove it without disturbing the motor mounts. There was indeed a locator pin, which I removed. I have a tool called a "sneaky Pete" made by a company called Lisle back many years ago, which is a little corkscrew thingy I just screwed into the seal and it pulled right out. I replaced it with a rubber seal and it slid right into the groove. Placed the other half in the bearing cap and torqued to specs. I replaced the pan and put everything back. Pulled the car on the radius plates and checked the alignment. All good. Dad suggested I check the PCV valve tubing and the vent in the oil cap. He seems to think it possible if the PVC valve was bad it could allow oil to be drawn up into the port at the base of the carb. He said that car has a cast iron intake and it could get hot and cause the oil to "coke" and plug the PCV valve tubing, causing pressure to build up in the crankcase and forcing oil out the rear main. I'm not sure I believe that, but, I humored him......Anyway thanks for your replies, fuelish351, Comet Fever, rthomas771, Mavman72, and Mike75mav. Craig.
Yes, I removed the main bearing cap. Dad told me on some years, engines were equipped with locator pins. I confirmed that with members of this forum because the models I was familiar with did not have a locator pin. Dad worked for the local Ford dealership from 1960 to 1972, so, he was familiar with these engines. Sometimes he gets things mixed up, though. Craig.
Maybe it's just a lingo issue: locator pin to make sure the bearing cap is oriented correctly vs seal pin to make sure the seal stays in place? Just guessing. Anyway thanks for sharing your experience. I might pick up that seal extractor tool for when I do mine. M.D.
I've heard it called a spike, locator pin, etc. O.K. seal pin to make sure the seal stays in place. This "rope type" seal is packed into the block and the bearing cap. This rope seal must be removed along with this "spike", locator, pin, etc. before a rubber seal can be installed. Thanks for your reply, Craig.
