Rear main seal
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
Likes: 24
From: Cape Coral
Rear main seal
Had a small drip of oil in my garage....we to my local shop I trust and they cleaned off my engine, I drove my car for a few days and came back. Looks like I have a small rear main seal leak. Quoted me $2900 in labor which also included oil cooler gasket. Like I said mechanic said it’s a small leak. I plan on keeping the car. What do you think about rushing to fix it?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,515
Likes: 441
From: Arizona
Run and hide from that place. That quote is very very very high. Rear main seal is maybe $30. Granted you have to drop a lot to do this, but $2870 in labor is insane. (When you find a better place you’ll also want to replace your clutch/flywheel and have your trans and diff seals inspected as well as your torque tube bearings.) Oil sender is back there as well as oil pan gaskets. Make sure these guys or the next shop diagnose the problem correctly. I’ve been to many shops with an oil leak and everyone jumps to the rear main because it is a cash cow. But in reality it could be other smaller repairs that could fix the problem. Diagnosis is key.
Last edited by STRMLNE; Jan 15, 2020 at 03:36 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
Likes: 24
From: Cape Coral
Run and hide from that place. That quote is very very very high. Rear main seal is maybe $30. Granted you have to drop a lot to do this, but $2870 in labor is insane. (When you find a better place you’ll also want to replace your clutch/flywheel and have your trans and diff seals inspected as well as your torque tube bearings.) Oil sender is back there as well as oil pan gaskets. Make sure these guys or the next shop diagnose the problem correctly. I’ve been to many shops with an oil leak and everyone jumps to the rear main because it is a cash cow. But in reality it could be other smaller repairs that could fix the problem. Diagnosis is key.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,515
Likes: 441
From: Arizona
Depends on your area and shops. I would call at least 5 to get an idea. My dealer charged my $1100 in labor in January, 2019 for a rear main. Parts were about $80 retail but this included rear cover gasket too. Dealers will also give you at least 15% off on this type of labor intensive work too if you just ask.
Last edited by STRMLNE; Jan 15, 2020 at 03:59 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
Likes: 24
From: Cape Coral
Depends on your area and shops. I would call at least 5 to get an idea. My dealer charged my $1100 in labor in January, 2019 for a rear main. Parts were about $80 retail but this included rear cover gasket too. Dealers will also give you at least 15% off on this type of labor intensive work too if you just ask.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,515
Likes: 441
From: Arizona
i would call Lyle at c&s corvettes. He is in Florida and he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful corvette shops I’ve come across. This guy’s customer service is second to none.
Last edited by STRMLNE; Jan 15, 2020 at 06:16 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
Likes: 24
From: Cape Coral
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,515
Likes: 441
From: Arizona
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 377
From: SW Ohio
Looks like the books say 9.4 hours per alldata, so even at a $120 / hour labor rate its $1128-ish. The other thousand may be compensation for the shear misery of the job....it damn sure isn't a fun one.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
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From: Cape Coral
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 4,704
Likes: 239
From: Redondo Beach CA
As others have advised, be sure of the leak, a very common leak towards the rear of the engine is when the oil pressure sender unit lets go, as you might know.
That wasn't what I kicked in to say, hopefully my actual suggestion is more useful.
If you have a very deep interest in such things, you might be interested in the rear seal fix devised for old 50's style thunderbirds, where the job was required often because of a design defect, but was also not an easy task. The owners devised a method with a zip tie where they could sneak gasket material up , around , and into the gasket area, without breaking apart major assemblies. I believe they threaded the nylon tool around and out, then pulled the gasket into position.
I don't know much about it, but it might be productive to investigate. I only heard about it in reading because a spine surgeon adapted the technique to use on damaged spinal disks, because he happened to have a patent with 56 t bird, that had just used the work around oil seal repair on his car. He took that basic idea, developed a procedure , and is now an accepted medical technique.
In my area, it cost me about a thousand bucks to drop the rear running gear to replace the clutch. The biggest problem was finding the right place to do the work.
That wasn't what I kicked in to say, hopefully my actual suggestion is more useful.
If you have a very deep interest in such things, you might be interested in the rear seal fix devised for old 50's style thunderbirds, where the job was required often because of a design defect, but was also not an easy task. The owners devised a method with a zip tie where they could sneak gasket material up , around , and into the gasket area, without breaking apart major assemblies. I believe they threaded the nylon tool around and out, then pulled the gasket into position.
I don't know much about it, but it might be productive to investigate. I only heard about it in reading because a spine surgeon adapted the technique to use on damaged spinal disks, because he happened to have a patent with 56 t bird, that had just used the work around oil seal repair on his car. He took that basic idea, developed a procedure , and is now an accepted medical technique.
In my area, it cost me about a thousand bucks to drop the rear running gear to replace the clutch. The biggest problem was finding the right place to do the work.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 181
Likes: 24
From: Cape Coral
As others have advised, be sure of the leak, a very common leak towards the rear of the engine is when the oil pressure sender unit lets go, as you might know.
That wasn't what I kicked in to say, hopefully my actual suggestion is more useful.
If you have a very deep interest in such things, you might be interested in the rear seal fix devised for old 50's style thunderbirds, where the job was required often because of a design defect, but was also not an easy task. The owners devised a method with a zip tie where they could sneak gasket material up , around , and into the gasket area, without breaking apart major assemblies. I believe they threaded the nylon tool around and out, then pulled the gasket into position.
I don't know much about it, but it might be productive to investigate. I only heard about it in reading because a spine surgeon adapted the technique to use on damaged spinal disks, because he happened to have a patent with 56 t bird, that had just used the work around oil seal repair on his car. He took that basic idea, developed a procedure , and is now an accepted medical technique.
In my area, it cost me about a thousand bucks to drop the rear running gear to replace the clutch. The biggest problem was finding the right place to do the work.
That wasn't what I kicked in to say, hopefully my actual suggestion is more useful.
If you have a very deep interest in such things, you might be interested in the rear seal fix devised for old 50's style thunderbirds, where the job was required often because of a design defect, but was also not an easy task. The owners devised a method with a zip tie where they could sneak gasket material up , around , and into the gasket area, without breaking apart major assemblies. I believe they threaded the nylon tool around and out, then pulled the gasket into position.
I don't know much about it, but it might be productive to investigate. I only heard about it in reading because a spine surgeon adapted the technique to use on damaged spinal disks, because he happened to have a patent with 56 t bird, that had just used the work around oil seal repair on his car. He took that basic idea, developed a procedure , and is now an accepted medical technique.
In my area, it cost me about a thousand bucks to drop the rear running gear to replace the clutch. The biggest problem was finding the right place to do the work.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
Had a small drip of oil in my garage....we to my local shop I trust and they cleaned off my engine, I drove my car for a few days and came back. Looks like I have a small rear main seal leak. Quoted me $2900 in labor which also included oil cooler gasket. Like I said mechanic said it’s a small leak. I plan on keeping the car. What do you think about rushing to fix it?
