[Emery]

I had my stang on jackstands in the garage for 4 months (till new hood went on last mo) and noticed 3 or 4 drips of oil on the floor. Climbed up under the stang and noticed a bit of oil under her. Looks like Ive got a rrrreeeeeeaaaallllllllllll slow leak from the rear main seal. My mechanic was not concerned when I told him (18 yrs @ Ford, now on own)...I kinda freaked out.

Anyone else had this problem....thought about it from seeing a post earlier today about RMS leaks. Doesn't look to be a problem but:

1. how can I verify it is a RMS
2. Is it just inevitable on a high milage 4.6 (143,000 mi)
3. What is the casue???? overfilling or gasket age?????
4. With a std the concern would be wearin the clutch quickly...what about a auto??

Should I not concern myself since it has only about a drip a month when not running in the garage. Although at temp and pressure (running) a bit more leaks not enough to notice yet...keepin a eye on it.

Any experiences???

[Vortex]

well a rear main seal only leaks from one place so if you can park it somewhere clean and see where the drips come down from... to absolutely verify, you'll have to pull the tranny and look at the seal..
to answer questions 2 and 3, over time RMS's just give out... the constant crank rotation wears it down...
With a clutch the concern is oil getting on the clutch disc and then you have major slippage and possible disintegration of the disc... with an auto, its not as bad because you have a front pump seal, and the torque converter is plugged on both ends... but you dont want to run low on oil... if the engine siezes.. its a new engine, not a rebuild.