Has anyone ever used a "6.2 Rear main seal installation tool"?

[Erik Jenkinson]

Just picked this up cheap on fleabay, hoping it might help on my next task. I havent the slightest idea how one goes about using it. Anyone have any expereince with this thing?

 

[phil2968]

If yours is like mine, getting the old rope seal out was the big task. Putting the new one in did not require a tool just lube and patience. Debur the edge of the groove or you can cut the new seal sliding it in!
My old seal did not come out in one piece. Getting to the top portion required using a coil spring that I straightened and put a small hook on and then stuck it in and around the crank grabbing what was left of the seal and pulling it out. Vise grips came in handy for this.
Oh and the oil pan gasket is not the same left to right, ask me how and when I found this out! It looks the same but four bolt holes don't line up.

 

[blackhueys]

let me guess you found out about the oil pan gasket just as you went to put the first few bolts in lol. The rear seal is not that hard just take your time jack the truck up by the frame rails and let the front axle just hang there will give you plenty of room to get the pan off. Make sure you use the right gasket and rear seal and don't forget the anaerobic sealant!

 

[Warthog]

Haven't used that tool but it looks like the crankshaft has to be removed to use it.

 

[phil2968]

let me guess you found out about the oil pan gasket just as you went to put the first few bolts in lol....

Nope the last four! I started at the back! A couple in the front to hold it up but not those four!

 

[lavarok]

Nope the last four! I started at the back! A couple in the front to hold it up but not those four!

I like to RTV the gasket to the pan prior to install. This makes sure all the bolt holes are lined up.

 

[ducer]

Sorry to say this but that tool was a waste of money. Yes the crank has to be out of the engine to use that tool it is for seating rope rear main seals. After you set the rope seal into the groove in the block or main cap you push down on it and use a sharp razor blade to cut the ends of the rope seal slightly above the block or cap (1/64th). At the dealership we would not waste the energy to walk to the tool crib to even get it. There is a kit you can buy at most autoparts stores for installing rope seals it contains a cable with a chinese finger at the end for snaking them around a crank.

Denny

 

[phil2968]

...I like to RTV the gasket to the pan prior to install. This makes sure all the bolt holes are lined up.

I did but did not see the misaligned holes! I never thought to look for symmetry.

... There is a kit you can buy at most autoparts stores for installing rope seals it contains a cable with a chinese finger at the end for snaking them around a crank.
Denny

The one auto zone carries is cheap wire with a cork screw end.
Yup, that is what broke off when I had that cork screw part all the way at the top of the crank! I lay on the ground for about a half hour thinking about how I was going to remove that broken cork screw with out pulling the crank!
I wound up using a coil spring from a trash can lid that I unwound and put a hook in. It worked and pulled what was left of the old seal with it.
Fun times!

 

[Coal Cracker]

That tool is used when crank is out , for shaping the rope seal before you install the crankshaft to get the proper torque on the maincap. Why even use a rope seal anymore, you can get a neoprene rubber replacement. If you broke off the removal tool (sneaky pete) my advice would be to loosen up the crank caps and let it hang just enough to get the old rope out. Replace it with the neoprene and slightly offset in the cap and block, use a lil dab of rtv where they meet, it'll never leak again.

 

[2deuce]

The rope was stuck solid up top in my crank too. I used the heaviest weed eater cord I could find(155) cut it so it had a blade tip and put it in a electric drill and ran it up in there. I had to sharpen it up a few times, but it cleaned out that old rope.

 

[ducer]

When we would sneak the rope seals in and out we allways loosened up the mains to drop the crank down, and rotate the crank in the direction we were pulling. Sorry I forgot to add that part.

Denny