Ford Repair: 98 Explorer V8 5.0 Rear Main Seal Replacement, pan gasket, auto body repair

Question
Hi Steve,

I was just told it would cost me $1700 to replace my oil pan gasket and rear main seal, as I have an Oil Leak.  I told them not to do it and was looking into doing it myself as I have a brother in law who is an Auto Body repair man, who also knows enough about engines.  However, I wanted to gain additional advice.  Changing the Oil Pan gasket looks like it would be no problem, and we can figure that out.  I was wondering if you know whether or not we would have to pull the engine to change the rear main seal????  We do not have the tools to pull the engine.  Could you please help me and let me know what you know about changing the rear main seal on a 1998 Ford Explorer V8 5.0????  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Chris-

  Well...if you don't have the tools to lift the engine I wouldn't recommend trying to replace the oil pan gasket.  I suppose you could support the engine from underneath and lower the front suspension out of the way, but that's a lot more work than lifting the engine.  As for the rear main seal, you don't have to lift the engine, but you will need to find a way to support the transmission and move it enough out of the way that you can get to the seal.  Hope this helps.

Steve