i have been reading a bunch of posts trying to find out if there is a conclusive way to know the rear main needs replacing (short of removing the tranny and looking). i have been helping a friend with his car which is leaking profusely. the leak shows itself at the transmission brace at the back of the engine. if you clean it up and wait 10 minutes, a few drops will have fallen. i noticed the small vacuum hose from the intake to the flame trap was totally clogged. i cleaned it out as well as the inlet ports on the flame trap and intake. if this was the cause, should the leak stop fairly quickly? is it possible that a clogged flame trap left long enough could irrevocably damage the seal? i removed the hose entering the breather box and when blowing into it, i could detect air moving out of the oil filler cap, so that part seems clear.

anyways, from the posts i have read, it sounds like the usual suspects for these leaks are the valve cover gasket, rear cam seal, and/or the rear main. i think the valve cover gasket and rear cam could be confirmed with a little cleaning and a mirror to look down there. any other ideas???