360 leaking rear main seal

Oil seal can dry up and start leaking from lack of use (during use the oil is circulating, lubing them). I see no connection between cam belt change and leaking rear main...
Jes

 

As above. Lack of use is the primary reason for failure..

 

I had the same problem and replaced the seal. In retrospect probably would have waited since it leaked less than my air cooled Porsche on its best day. Not sure what harm it would have done...

 

Leaking rear main equals failed clutch.

 

I'm not an expert here. None the less, I wouldn't worry too much. When you do the seal you will do the clutch so it doesn't really matter.

 

+1.

I had my 360 in storage before shipping with me to Australia when I emigrated. This lack of use resulted in various seals including the rear main seal drying out and requiring replacement. Storage was unavoidable but I now ensure I drive the car at least once every couple of weeks if not weekly.

Gearbox has to come off to remedy RMS. So it was an expensive exercise..... Your clutch can get contaminated with oil from the RMS leak so be carefull, don't think a small leak is a major issue but if its leaking out of the undertray I'd say its more than a minor leak. I have a 6spd manual but from what I know the F1's need to be plugged into the computer to set the clutches up correctly in the F1 transmission. Clutch change can be done without this but incorrectly set up will wear out the new clutch much sooner. Also I believe the whole clutch assemly should be replaced/resurfaced don't just replace the friction disc. Also check condition of your T/O bearing and all the hydraulic seals whilst your in there. Personally I'd replace the lot at the same time.

Good luck mate.

 

Hi, I need to replace rear engine seal on my 2004 360 spider. Can anyone tell me how much work (hours) this will entail.
Thanks

 

Another friend of mine here also has a leaking rear main seal so I called my dealer to get a quote.

Rear Main Seal replacement from the dealership is around $3,000.00.

Dan

 

Yep that's me. It's in the dealers right now and they confirmed it was a rear main. I had it at my indie mechanic but as it's an F1 and he doesn't have the equipment to handle it so he called his friend at FCI who said it's a common problem on the 360. Dan's mechanic also said that he has seen the oil pan leaking so you need to confirm that it isn't that before tearing into the transmission. My understanding is that the transaxle is moved back sufficient to get the flywheel and clutch out. My clutch was replaced about 4k miles ago together with the new 6 bolt starter ring, throw out bearing and position sensor and bracket. My wear is only 11% so no new clutch and they haven't said anything about oil on the clutch. Incidentally I drive my every week so I don't think it's through drying out of the seal but when the under tray was off there was quite a bit of old oil on it that had got dirt mixed in with it as well as the clean engine oil. Not sure if the seal was leaking then stopped and started again. I only noticed oil on the garage floor a week ago when I pulled the car out to wash it. The last time I did this was about two months ago and I would have noticed any oil at that time and I didn't.
Estimated cost $3150 but I'm hoping it comes in less.
Alan

 

A clutch change was 12 hours labour when I asked last week.........RMS should be similar.

 

The F430 Service Time Schedule shows 10.7 hours for removing the flywheel (10.4 for a clutch change) and 2.0 hours for replacing the rear main seal. 360 should be similar.

 

In my experience the oil pan leaking right at the rear main seal is quite common. Actually I think it is more common. If it was my car I'd pull the pan and reseal it too.

 

430 is a very different job actually but the labor times in the 360 manual were a work of some warranty administrators imagination.

 

I get my car back today so will post the labor times. Tech adviser said that he was about $200 less than the $3150 estimate and will try to whittle it down some more.
Alan

 

Thanks for the update Alan.

Have a great weekend!

Dan

 

Labor cost was $2500 -- not sure of their labor rate. They included a crankcase gasket -- not sure if that is a gasket between the engine and transmission or a pan gasket as they did charge for 5W40 oil so they must have drained the engine. I'll have to ask the service advisor.
Alan

 

About the same for me as well. The oil was drained during the process and refilled.

 

Alan- Not too bad considering everything they had to remove.

 

Thanks for the update Alan.

Glad to hear its less than we expected.

Dan

 

Yes I was okay with that. I went back to their workshop to talk to the tech who worked on mine and he was doing a major service on a beautiful 1972 Dino GT that they had picked up in Tennessee. The next bay had a 430 with the transaxle removed that was sent to a dealer in Florida who is apparently one of only a very few that rebuilds them.
My tech said that he has replaced over half a dozen transmission oil heat exchangers so I'm going to get an estimate -- apparently they are available from Ferrari (I thought they were on a long back order).
Alan

 

IIRC, Seakamp will make custom coolers if you send them yours, they duplicate
them. They make boat coolers, and at about $900 a pop for OEM, worth a shot.
In a past post I recommended looking at "MR. cool" for coolers, this before
I just found a less than 2 year old Mr. cool boat trans. Cooler leaking !

A transmission oil/water cooler for a 8.1 l on a boat is under $200
so it s/b a lot less than OEM.

If anyone has a used or leaking 360 trans. cooler lying around,
I will pay you shipping to me, I will send it to Seakamp, have one made for me,
they will keep the spec on file and others can order as needed.
I plan on a scheduled replacement this winter, having one on hand would be nice.

The boat transmission go to guy in San Diego said he only uses Seakamp, and
similar to our 360's, almost every trans. In his shop is there due to cooler failure.....