This leak has been going for quite some time. I've replaced the oil pan twice, and the rear valve cover gasket. However, nothing seems to have stopped the oil leak and it appears to be getting worse.

Based on a lot of looking and research, it seems I have the dreaded rear main crankshaft seal leak. This is upsetting considering it's an '05 with just about 160K miles, and the leak has been going on long before now.

What I've got now is a pattern of pretty intense oil leak just after driving (engine hot), and then it will slow as the engine cools. I'm losing about 1 qt a week, and that's with not much driving. Only thing that will slow it a bit is parking backwards on an angle (so the oil pushes towards the front of the vehicle).

A few months ago, I removed the tranny inspection plate, and found oil slick behind it. I also notice oil drips from the bottom of the inspection plate, and the bulk of the oil on the bottom of the engine appears to be in that area of the tranny and oil pan.

My questions are is this very likely the rear main, and if so, is there anything I can do to fix or curb the leak in any way? I've tried various stop leaks, and they seem to have no effect. I do change and top off with full synthetic as I have since the van was new. I'm wondering if I should move to thicker conventional oil in an effort to stop the leak, but not sure if it would make a difference considering how bad it is. Regarding fixing the rear main, I've gathered it's nearly impossible for a "home mechanic", and a daunting and expensive job for a pro. Plus, I've seen no instructions for this job anywhere.

Thanks for any help! I really need it.

 

Its not hard just a pain, you can pull the gearbox out and do itthat way but i thought i may as well just pull the whole unit out and do the water pump and belts etc.
The parts will prob cost about £70 but because at least the box is out you will end up doing the clutch etc.
But if you take it out you can make it look pretty at the same time

 

This response is very late, but hopefully it helps others.

I would avoid stop leak etc. I have the same oil seal leak (2.5 CRD engine) but as it's equal to about 1li per year, I tolerate it. That being said, when I tried stop leak and similar products it helped, but the next time I did an oil change, I really did not like the fact that these products made my engine oil very sticky and slimy. So yes, it helps reduce the oil leak but probably causes more deposits on the oil bearing surfaces = future problems. There are videos on youtube for changing the oil seal.