In trying to take out my rear main seal today and replace it with a new one, I noticed that the aluminum part where the seal sits was from a 93-96 car (10088158). Would that cause any problems to put that on a 97 block/car? Or do I need to buy a 97 rear main seal (12554314)?

Also, how in the hell do you get the seal off? The little tabs where you are supposed to put a flat head screwdriver to pop it off wont work.

thanks for the help.

 

Yea its the same seal, remove the seal housing, and beat that seal out with a screwdriver from the inside out, clean the housing, and tap in the new seal, using a pieace of wood the size of the seal.

 

He's not going to want to remove the housing if he is not taking off the pan.

Keep trying on the slots. It should eventually come out.

 

While you are at it, you might want to check the bolts holding the rear main seal housing to the back of the block. Mine were only finger tight when I took mine apart. I don't know why. Best of luck.