So at first my car was leaking a little oil. That I could deal with. Now its gotten a lot worse, and I now have to so something about it. I know the rear main seal needs to be replaced, so the A4LD (its a 2.3 btw) needs to come out. What I'd like to know is if anyone has any tricks that will make this go any easier, such as the best way to get the old seal out? Has anyone else had this problem on a 2.3?

 

If you're going to take that 2.3 out, don't put it back in there. Go get yourself all the stuff to convert this thing over to a 5.0 and take your time. Then, when you're ready to jack the 2.3 out, you don't have to worry about fixing that seal.

 

The seal is very easy to replace once the transmission is out. Remove the flywheel and it is a one piece seal...a screwdriver and hammer and you can easily pry it out. Replacement is a matter of putting a little oil around the inside of the new seal(where it rides the crank) and tapping it back into place.

Keep in mind that sometimes when a rear main leak starts it could be caused by a clogged up PCV system...the 2.3 has a little canister on the side of the block and if it is clogged then it will pressurize the system and force oil out wherever it can...usually the rear main seal. 5 liters suffer the same problem when the PCV screen at the back of the intake under the PCV valve gets clogged up.

 

I took a good look at what was going on, and i think that the oil is coming out of the back of the valve cover and running down the side of the bell housing, and dripping off the bottom, so im goign to replace that tomorrow. I got the blue felpro gasket, which ive heard mixed opinions of, but it was half as much as the OEM seal, and it was in stock

BTW that was a good tip paul, and ill check that while im under the hood as well

 

The Ford gasket is best...used on a 2.3 Ranger and is a steel core and reusable. The Blue Felpro gasket is "OK" but be careful at the front where it goes over the cam tower...they have a tendency to tear as you push the valve cover down so lube the gasket with oil to help it slide and not tear as you do this.

 

I didnt really have a problem with it tearing, but i still have a leak, Its not coming from where the Oil pressure sensor screws in, and i dont believe its coming from the bottom of the dipstick tube either. That leaves the oil filter, and that canister paul was talking about. Since this started badly after my last oil change, im thinking its the oil filter

 

Make sure you didn't double gasket the oil filter....most everyone does this at least once in their lifetime . Sometimes the old o-ring gasket sticks to the engine block and you install the new filter and end up with a bad oil leak....