CoreySmith

My '86 is in otherwise very good shape. But, now in the past couple of months I noticed a small amount of oil (1/2 table spoon or so) accumulates under my car when it sits for a few weeks. I jacked it up and found the leak right between the fly wheel housing and starter. There is a little notch there where I found a small amount of oil. The rest of my underside is dry and clean.

It is a very small leak. Dipstick level doesn't move. The only sign is a tiny amount of oil on my garage floor, and I have only seen this twice. So, sometimes it can sit a week or more and leak no oil. Then, over two weeks, maybe 1/2 tablepoon oil.

My best guess is the rear main seal. Here is the problem. I use this car for highway drives. My DD is a 2-door Jeep Rubicon and is a disaster on the highway. I have two drives coming up. One from Cleveland to Ann Arbor MI in early November and another out to Wisconsin at some point here.

Obviously I will have to get this taken care of, and probably will do the clutch while it is apart. But I just can't swing another $3K repair right now. Work on house, kids in college and wife who is already very patient. And, I just put $4k into a bunch of work on the car just a few months ago.

I have no problem if things are going to stay the same, or develop slowly. But I just don't know how these rear main seal leaks go. Should I expect some sort of rapid acceleration in the leak or catastrophic failure that should keep me from driving this thing for longer interstate trips? Or, can I take it and just keep an eye on the oil...

I'm looking for your experience-based opinions. What does the collective think? Safe for long drives or not?

V2Rocket

What is wrong with the jeep on the highway?
I see them doing 80 down the interstate all the time over here.
Wrangler has almost identical wheelbase to 944 so it can't be *that* sketchy at speed...

It might be worth a shot to contact user xsboost90 who I believe is on the KY side of Cincinnati...he might be able to help you with the work to knock it out faster. Dan is a good guy.

CoreySmith

Rubicon has the stock M/T tires. They have softer and more compliant walls so when you go off road and underinflate them, they have the pliability to grab/wrap around rocks or odd-shaped trail bits. That makes them have a lot of lateral give and spring. So if you go over a bump at 75 mph at anything but a straight forward angle, the whole jeep tends to jump sideways a bit.

But you are right. Slap some all-season radials on there, and there is no problem. (I am not lifted or anything. This is not death wobble I am talking about. My Rubicoin, which I LOVE, is pretty much stock).

AZ520

I thought I had a rear main leak, it turned out to be the pan gasket, also have seen oil air separator leaks causing it to run down in that area. Its a hard spot to find leaks at.

944Ross

My car had a much worse RMS leak. I knew exactly what was involved in replacing it (having done it before) so I simply put up with it for more than a year. During that time it was my DD. I doubt it went thru 2 qts of oil, but I had a pan under it in the garage and I parked downhill at work . Pic below is about a months' worth. It looks like a lot, but it really isn't.

It got the heat shields oily, but nothing bad. I wouldn't hesitate to drive yours on a trip if it's otherwise in good shape.

NoRush993/951

I've had the same Rms leak as you described for over seven years now. When the clutch is replaced some time in the future I'll take care of it. It hasn't gotten any worse over time and appears to be the same little couple of drops on the floor every now and then to remind me that work on a 951 never ends. It just repeats. It's a more comfortable highway ride than my 993.

CoreySmith

Thanks so much for your experience, and for your patience with the horribly-written initial post. Good lord, I need to proof read things before hitting 'post'.

Lots of good experience and thanks for the picture. I'll drive it and just keep an eye out. I love this car and have dropped far more money than I anticipated or am willing to disclose in public. Other parts of my life just need the financial attention right now. I'll get it when I get the clutch and rod bearings done sometime down the road.

FRporscheman

+1 on driving it. Even when the leak gets "really bad", it won't be leaking out so fast that you can't still drive it - check the oil when you stop for gas and top it off if needed.