Rear Main Seal

[450sl4me]

I've got an oil leak on my 450 SL. My mechanic says that it is coming from the rear main seal. He also says the only way to change it is to pull the engine. Therefore, I'm waiting on fixing it for now, as it is not that bad, yet. Any other solutions to my leak w/o pulling motor?

[txstinger]

If rear main that is the only true fix. Some people would try a oil additive sealant - NOT ME!!

[kip Foss]

On many cars, and I am not sure about the 450 engine, you can pull or roll in a new rear main seal w/o having to pull the engine or trans. Check with an independent foreign car mechanic. Pulling a engine is major work and it opens your up to the 'might as well' syndrom.

The 'MAW' syndrom states that as long as you have the engine out you 'MAW' do the main bearings, or a valve job, or the trans, or etc., etc. It can get real expensive real quick.

[Robert Mowbray]

A quart of oil is a hell of a lot cheaper than that job. I also have a bad rear main seal (according to a mechanic), but as you say, until it gets a whole lot worse, I'm leaving it alone. I just keep replacing the oil.