1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
MDD,
Obviously, your rear main seal should last much longer but there are a couple of mitigating circumstances. Assuming your mech installed it correctly, the rear main seal could leak if the engine has high mileage. A "wear line" gets grooved into the rear crank flange from where the previous seal rubbed on it for years.
Usually, a seal can be set shallower or deeper into its carrier so it won't follow the old line from the previous one. Otherwise, there may be extra clearance around the seal lips from the previous wear line.
SAAB sets the seals in so they are flush with the edge of the carrier. Your mech should've sunk the new seal in a bit from there so it rubs on a "virgin" surface of the rear crank flange.
Another possibility is the type of oil you're using. If you use synth in a high mileage engine, you may still get a little oil creep after a while, even with a new seal. Especially if your mech installed the seal exactly as the old one was.
Another possibility may be your transmission input shaft seal is leaking instead. This is a fairly commonplace occurrence. The tranny lube leaking from a faulty input shaft seal comes out in approximately the same area as a rear main seal leak so it would be hard to distinguish one from the other, especially if you're using dino oil in the tranny.
Taking off the inspection cover sdhould reveal the source of the leak. If the leak appears to come from the transmission side of the throwout bearing (as evidenced by a wet spot or stream under the bearing) then your culprit is the input shaft seal. If the wetness emanates from "behind" the flywheel, then your main seal is leaking.
Hope this helps.
JD
posted by 209.178.140...
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