Rear main seal leak?

[97tbird]

I've become aware that my Ford 4.6L sohc(97) the oil level has been dropping a little too often. I don't see any blue smoke(no oil burning), and I can't see any oil drops either, on the ground I mean.
the car has 88,000 miles.
However: the area behind the alternator, between the two "halves" of the engine, has a horizontal plate like thing(under the intake plenum), which seems to be wet.

And today, during an oil change, I had the dealer look at the "wet area" in my engine. he says the area is the bell housing area, which has oil on it,
He says that it is due to a minor "rear main seal leak", and that it's "really nothing worry about at all, 'cause the amount of leakege is very small"
I changed from conventional to synthetic oil at 85,000 miles, (without doing a cleaning such as Auto Rx) and that's when I first started noticing the vanishing oil.
a lot of people have told me that a small leak would probably vanish by going to conventional oil again, and today I went to conventional again(2:3 mix of Chevron 10/40 & 10/30)
The dealer really said "it's nothing to worry" BUT I'm worried, and wanted to know from all you guys:
--how bad is this?(uses about 1/2 qt per 2500 miles)
--how hard/expensive is it to fix this rear main seal?
--is it worth fixing it?

(I started using Auto Rx today, but mainly as a cleaning procediure, I wonder if I should take it further to te level of traetment for seal lekas...?)

any advice/help is welcome.
Thanks.

 

[Mike242GT]

Tbird:

While synthetics don't "cause" seal leaks, you will often find leaks showing up after switching, as the synthetic cleans up the gunk that was helping the seals do their jobs. The Auto RX regimen might help.

If you're not seeing drips on the ground under your car, the leak is indeed quite minor. I'd be willing to bet that the low rate of consumption you're seeing is mostly just that - consumption, not leakage. A leak of 1/2 quart will make a helluva big puddle in your driveway!

To replace the seal (probably about a $6 part) requires dropping the transmission; probably about $300-500 in labor depending on where you live and who does it - not worth it in my opinion. I've had rear main seal leaks in several of my Volvos, and I just wait until I need to do a clutch to bother with the rear main. If the leak doesn't get any worse, I'd just let it go.

 

[Frank]

High mileage engines that have used nothing but synthetic oil will develop rear main seal leaks not from the synthetic oil it is the complex additive package in that synthetic oil that started seal to leak.Auto-Rx stops rear main seal leaks if seal not ripped or torn. We do so without swelling the seal, just follow application.

 

[HOndaGuy]

quote:

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Originally posted by Frank:
High mileage engines that have used nothing but synthetic oil will develop rear main seal leaks not from the synthetic oil it is the complex additive package in that synthetic oil that started seal to leak.Auto-Rx stops rear main seal leaks if seal not ripped or torn. We do so without swelling the seal, just follow application.

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correction: High mileage engines that have used nothing but conventional oil will develop rear main seal leaks!!!!!!!!!!!