rear main seal leak-can't be fixed???

oil leaks can be tough to id...one method ( to verify it is leaking from the rear seal ) is to have your mechanic use the dye and florecent light to verify ......

Hi,

I bought a '96 850 non turbo in 2000 (4 years old), and almost immediately the rear seal started leaking severely. It was fixed under warranty. The car has done about 80,000km since without even a drop of oil showing from the seal.

The spot you have the oil leaking from does seem to be the rear oil seal.

At the time, advice on the web seemed to indicate that '96 850's had a rear seal problem. The mechanic who fixed mine took 3 days, and said he had to send back 2 seals "that he didn't like". To me that suggests that maybe there was an old one and a new improved one.

Replacement of the seal entails dropping the front sub frame to remove the gear box from underneath and is not generally a do-it-yourself job. Not for me anyway.

Good luck, it can be fixed properly.

regards barry

I had the same experience on my '95 850. It leaked a few drops very early on and the new seal, which was replaced under warranty, has served very well for over 130,000 miles.

I have a '97 850 and the rear engine seal leaked for some time, small oil spot on the driveway. I had the PCVs replaced and haven't had a problem in the last 15,000 miles. Total mileage thus far, 93,000.