So, here's the situation: Recently my engine started leaking a lot of oil down the back of the engine and dripping onto the tailpipe (in turn burning it and smelling bad). After consulting with my dad we came to the conclusion that the rear main seal is toast.
Now, unrelated to that problem, I had plans this summer to replace a few gaskets in the engine, namely the head gaskets and the intake gaskets. I want to do this because the engine eats coolant and I'm sure one or both gaskets are ready to be replaced anyways (20+ years old).

So, my question is should I pull the engine out to do all these jobs or leave it in? My hayne's manual says to pull out the tranny to get at the rear main seal and I know that to get to the head gaskets half the engine has to come apart. Am I better off just pulling the thing out and then performing everything I need to do rather than messing with pulling out the tranny AND the top half of the engine later?

Also, if I'm to pull the engine, what other parts/seals/gaskets should I replace simply because it'll be easy to do with the engine out?

thanks for the replies!

 

i would pull it. then you can work on it while its on an engine stand. much easier than leaning over the car. if you are going to do the rear main, you might as well do the front too. and the oil pan gasket, timing cover and get some new valve cover gaskets. then you will have a freshly sealed motor. plus you could also clean up the engine bay and the motor itself. just my .02 and that is how i would do it.

good luck.

 

and if you are doing head gaskets, you might as well have the heads surfaced and you might want to clean the valves up and maybe have a valve job done. but as you can see, things start to snow ball quite fast. just have a budget and a list of things that you want to do for sure. otherwise you will find yourself having the block honed and the decks surfaced and new bearings and new........

 

Haha I know what you mean with the snowballing thing. I'm limiting any work done to strictly be parts replacement/repair. I don't have the means nor time to be sending this thing off to a machine shop to be re-surfaced or anything else. I'm only interested in gaskets/seals replacement and maybe other cheap-ish parts that are worth doing since I might be taking the engine out anyways. But thanks for your thoughts.

Budget on this is probably in the ~$500 range maybe. As little as possible would be nice as the girlfriend is already gearing up to make me get rid of it.... I'm not entirely sure how much new gaskets/seals go for but I know that they're not crazy expensive (<$50 each?).

Also, it occurs to me that I would need an engine hoist, and preliminary research tells me that they're on the order of $200 for the cheaper models. Dad says they're only $100... Am I looking in the wrong places?

 

Check out craigslist. There are a couple around me for $100, give or take. The majority is about $200, though. Start scoping out garage sales. I've seen some in great shape at a great price before.

 

also, if you truck is eating coolant, sooner the better to do the head gaskets and LIM

 

Tell me about it... I'm in college right now so I need it for transportation. Also, I don't have a garage so I would have to do it in the unpredictable and usually cold New England weather...(temps fluctuating between 40-50 with wind chill bringing it into the mid 30's) Just can't do it right now. But, as I mentioned earlier, I've been planning on doing these fixes this summer when I'll have the time and the weather will be MUCH better. I'll be resting much easier once this job is done.

 

Hope your engine is not bye bye before then. Good luck!

 

Engine hoists at Harbor Freight usually run around $150. As to what to replace, besides what's already been mentioned, replace your expansion plugs (often called freeze plugs but that's not their name) and if you're well over 100K, put a new oil pump in it. Do NOT put a high pressure pump. It will blow out your bearings. Use a high VOLUME pump. This will compensate for slightly worn bearings without tearing the engine down completely.

 

I'll have to check harbor freight again... Expansion plugs huh? I've never even heard of that part! But good to keep in mind. thanks for the suggestion.

My engine is currently at 85K miles, still worth a new oil pump? Is it cheap enough to justify as being cheap insurance?

So far the laundry list of things to replace is the following:
Rear Main Seal
Head Gasket
Intake Gasket
Oil Pan Gasket
Timing Cover Gasket
Valve Cover Gaskets
Lower Intake Manifold Gasket --> Is this just a different name for the intake gasket above?
Expansion Plugs
Oil Pump --> maybe

Anything else that can qualify as cheap insurance?