Rear main seal - leaking at 5,800 miles

[Idolan]

21 Yukon Denali and took it in for it's first oil change at 5,800 miles and the mechanic shows me a leak at the main seal and oil across the underside behind it. Says it's all under warranty but they are going to have to pull the motor.

Wonder if I can work my way into a performance exhaust at dealer cost or jobber price?

 

[mb1500]

Ouch.

 

[Quark]

Here come the apologists.

 

[tom3]

Can't pull the transmission? I'm not up on the LS type seals I guess. Darn shame to do all that to a new vehicle.

 

[Geotrash]

Wow, that stinks. All that is needed is to drop the transmission - no need to pull the engine. The exhaust will need to be separated at the bottom of each header to do the work, so it's a fine time to do any exhaust work you want. Still a big job, but not as big as pulling the engine would be.

Note however that there are several potential leakage areas that can masquerade like a rear main seal leak, including the oil filter itself. Best to take it to the dealer and let them troubleshoot since it's under warranty.

 

[Reddevil96]

There is a TSB for an oil leak in the area and is caused by the oil filter not being tight enough and a new torque spec was published for the oil filter

 

[gooffeyguy]

What is the new torque spec?

 

[Idolan]

The oil filter was fine it's really the main seal. Dealer said with the 4 wheel drive it's easier to pull the motor.

 

[Z7122]

I'm afraid my rear main seal is leaking as well. 2022 Tahoe Z716.2 with 2100 miles. I visited my local service department this morning and starting telling them make/model etc and they assumed I was getting ready to say my lifters failed. I would rather have the lifters replaced vs what they will need to do to replace the rear main seal. Did they end up pulling your motor or the trans?

 

[R32driver]

This seems crazy to me. I've been a backyard mechanic for about 20 years and have pulled many engines, transmissions and whatnot and to me pulling an engine is a massive undertaking compared to pulling a transmission. Lots of work involved with unhooking wires, emissions stuff, coolant hoses, AC lines, exhaust, removing body panels etc...But who knows on these newer vehicles maybe it is easier. I've heard that on some of the newer trucks the best course of action is to remove the cab of the truck to access the engine which also seems crazy to me