ae101 rear main seal

[ae86 slide]

my throw out bearing in my silver top powerd sprinter has been squelling for a while so it was time to change it this moring,

when i got the box off i was suprised to see a spray fan of greasy oil around the inside of the bell housing where the clutch and pressure plate had flicked it everywhere, my dad put it down to a leaking rear main seal, which also means i am up for a replacment seal and clutch, as im assuming the clutch disk material has been penatrated by oil making it useless?

so i unbolted the fly wheel and was trying to inspect the seal when i began to run out of light, (friggin winter), from what i could see there was a sort of housing behind the fly wheel around what i think is the seal held on with 6 bolts.

my questions are;
1/ do i need to buy a new clutch or can my original one be salvaged ( its only 6 months old)
2/ do need to get my fly wheel machined before fitting a new clutch
3/ do i need to remove that housing thingy around what looks like the seal to remove and fit a new seal.

any advice is appreciated, thanks guys

[Gilly]

1. you probably should replace your clutch. i personally would clean it with brake cleaner fit it all back in and see how it goes. it all depends on how much oil soak there is if its saturated its rooted. i did this in a turbo gemini i had and it was alright.

2. you should machine your flywheel if replacing the clutch. machining gets rid of high spots and 'hotspots" which are created by clutch slip.

3. you do have to take of the housing. its actually a plate that has the seal in it from memory. taking the plate off makes it easier to take the seal out as the crank isn't in the way. when you get a seal pm me the part number so i can get one easy if i ever need one instead of hunting around trying to match one up. i think 16v ones are the same.

also a 4ac spigot bearing is the same as 4age ones $8 repco

hope this helps.