Looks like the big red beast has a leak from the rear crankshaft oil seal, messy rather than serious but Malcom the MoT man is stating to suggest that it ought to be done.

So which is the best way in?

Gearbox out or engine out? Looks to me that engine out is more straight-forward. as my lift is only a half height type. Begin at the front and just keep taking bits off until you have clearance. Looks like a day to get out and a day to get back in working at a sensible pace. I'd prefer to have it done for me but no one round here wants to take the job. Usually the stupid excuse way rather than honest refusal. Which is annoying but helps to show who an be trusted when I finally have to admit I can't mange.

Anything else that ought to be done whilst it's out and get-actable. Exhaust heat shields obviously. Also the big red beast has always used a little bit of water on start-up but basically same amount per trip whether it's 4 miles or 400. Investigate or don't poke with stick? I'd put money on it having had a gasket seal nostrum put in before I got it which isn't quite up mot the job.

Going by what I've been quoted for doing the seal its tempting to take the engine up to V8 Developments for a refresh and stage one tune once its out, but dunno if I can loose the car for a month. Probably won't be that much more expensive than local quotes for doing the rear seal.

Clive

Definitely engine out. Once you get all the ancillaries off, put a jack under it & remove the engine mounts. Then you can lower it to make accessing the top bell housing bolts easier.

While it's out check all the core plugs on the block & heads, plus things like the weep hole on the water pump.

It isn't only the rear main seal that can leak, but also the crucifix seals down the side of the rear main bearing cap. I won't say it is easier but taking the engine out involves a lot less grovelling under the car dealing with extremely heavy lumps. With the radiator out and the viscous fan off, there's about a foot of clear space at the front so lifting the engine out with an engine crane is relatively straightforward. Once out, it is up to you what you do with it but using a small amount of coolant could suggest all is not entirely well in the liner/head gasket area so a full strip and rebuild might be better in the long run.

Thanks for confirming that engine out is the more sensible way. More bits to shift but more clearance to work.

I'm tempted to start by simply doing the crucifix seals, as they can be done with the engine in situ, to see if that cures the oil leak before going further. Oil change due shortly so a convenient time to drop the sump. But the oily area looks little too extensive for just the crucifix seals.

Heart says strip'n rebuild is the right way to go but head says where do you stop! Odds are I won't put much more than 20,000 - 25,000 miles on before old age makes me hang up my licence. Model year 2000 4.0 99,800 miles. Engine still running well with normal level of fuel thirst.

Water issue is probably marginal head bolt tightness on ageing head gaskets. As soon as the block expands it puts bit more clamping pressure on sealing everything up. With ordinary head bolts, or ARP studs it would have gotten a quick tweak ages ago. But stretch bolts are a one time thing.

Guess right thing is to start by verifying compressions then change the head gaskets and fixings. If any cylinders are low a valve grind would be sensible. These days I guess ARP studs are the way to go although from an engineering perspective I'm not a fan of how much gasket pressure rises due to differential expansion when the engine gets hot. Good stretch bolts minimise the effect but how good are the current offerings? Possibly more important is how good are the threads in the block? Helicoiling is not a favourite job.

Clive

When I did my Autobiography rebuild most of the work was easy to do at home. Bought it for £803 with reported misfire. Was actually head gasket failure.

Classic Modern Engines (CME) in Bracknell did head skim & pressure tested the block. It needed 3-4 core plugs, so got them to do them all. Bores were quite good, so didn't change pistons. Prev owner had over tightened the head bolts & stripped several threads so got CME to heli-coil them all. £420 all in.

Then I put in all new big-end & main bearings, piston rings, valve seals, new standard camshaft, chain & gears, plus oil pump. Valves all re-lapped & used ARP Studs. All the usual gaskets, etc. Total about £550.

The power difference was amazing.

Pete
Nice job. Pretty much straight out of my personal engine rebuild playbook! Do it all, do it once. Much less costly than I'd envisaged given the way prices have gone up in the 25 or so year since I last did an engine. Given the list I'd have guess that double your costs would be doing well.

Local garages want more just to pull the motor and do the crank seal. Hafta do the cruciforms myself. Bit complicated for them methinks.

Thanks, certainly given me a much sounder basis for thinking about what best to do.

Clive

The project thread is here: Project Autobiography

The first 30 or so posts are waffle about the usual P38 issues. The engine stuff starts from post #35 after I took the heads off. Definitely needs a decent set of imperial sockets. The engine has a mixture of both imperial & metric !!