Where is this seal located?

I have an oil leak on our '96 Turbo I can't locate. Seems to be coming from up high somehwere, but can't see anything from top of engine. From under car I see it on bottom of intake to turbo, but not on the turbo oil return line. From there it is all over the place and can't tell where it comes from.

Losing 1 quart or more every 1000 miles, small puddles in garage, burning oil smell as it gets on exhaust parts.....even get a mist of oil on rear window of wagon after driving for awhile.

Trey - I had a pretty good leak that was concealed by the distributor - also high up on the engine.

Pop the dist. cap and look for signs of oil - there is a camshaft seal behind the rotor. The other camshaft seal is behind the cam position sensor. I replaced both of these seals. These parts were cheap and the job was pretty easy- I changed out both seals myself for $10 - the new parts are a better material than what was in there. Whoever did the old seals did a crappy job- as they weren't fully seated.

Scott '95 855t / '88 745gle

Based on your description of this leak, it is definitely your rear main.

Look underneath on the drivers side of the car, follow the axle to where it meets the transmission, then follow the transmission to where it mounts up with the engine. If that is all wet underneath that area, that's your culprit.

To get to it, you need to remove the entire engine subframe, remove the steering rack from the subframe, remove almost everything suspension wise that is attched to left front wheel.

Open the hood, remove the air cleaner, remove three bolts from the top of the trans, hoist the car up, start removing suspension components, then the subframe, the rack, then remove the tranny, then the flywheel, then your rear main will be exposed. If you have a 5 speed, do this soon, otherwise your clutch will get fried real quick.

Dealer will get $1K+ for this job in most cased, indy's will charge less.
--
96 850 GLT 5-Speed- Sold due to astronomical repair costs.

The rear main surrounds your engines crankshaft (not driveshaft). To replace it, the trans must be removed and it's a 10 hour job (book time).

Driveshaft!!??? -- I must be getting old. Thanks for correcting my error. Anybody have a cure for the "where the #$*%& did I lay down that wrench syndrome"? Since I developed this problem all projects take about 25% longer. Good thing patience comes with age.

Dan

The rear main seal is located on the back of the engine, the end opposite the accessory belt. The rear main seal keeps oil in the engine around the drive shaft. If you have a leaking rear main seal, you will see oil coming out of a small weep hole at the bottome of the engine where it mates with the transmission.