l have a subaru1990 l series , they say the rear main is leaking . it is pouring out from the bell housing like a tap ! l been told that to replace the seal the motor has to come out and being a boxer engine , the block has to be split. they said that its not just a matter of replacing the seal on the back , is this true?

yes it is

You can pull the trans to replace the seal, it is a one piece seal, you do not have to split the block. Also they should reseal the piston pin access plugs

Do not take ur car back to whoever told u this! At least spare ur Subaru is from this kind of talk.

You can pull the engine or drop the tranny to replace this seal. l would probably recommend getting the engine pulled. There r a few reasons for this: 1. You can get the seal replaced, along with other problematic seals like the valve cover gaskets, front main (crank) seal, cam seals, & oil pump gaskets & seals. This will be incredibly cheap for labor for installation, in fact u might only be charged for parts. 2. You can also take care of a major problem in a lot of older cars. u can get the engine mounts & transmission mounts replaced. Once again, should be parts only (especially for the engine mounts). 3. Very easy to take care of the timing belt & water pump if u r near that point also.

If u take care of these, u will have fixed most of the old car problems that come with these older EA82 engine cars. The car should be oil leak free, the transmission will shift smoother & the car will feel much more 'put-together' with these parts replaced. All of this might add up at a shop, so depends on how long u want to keep the car. But they r also all easily doable yourself, l just got done replacing the seals on the front end of my 1989 GL. It makes a wonderful difference. :)