Rear main seal cost estimate

[fblainen11]

Local dealer told me around $1100.
A transmission shop in town (that I've known for a long time and is reputable) told me around $85/ hr in labor for 6.9-8.5 in labor hours. He'd have to look at it to give exact estimate.

That would be around $590-720 including Toyota OEM seals. I'm bringing it by tomorrow, but I think that includes the Rear main and the seal on the front of the transmission.


Any tips on this? I have a leak and it is dripping slowly. I plan on keeping this for a long time and want to get it fixed.

 

[geanes]

Anything under $1k seems like a fantastic deal to me. 8 hours seems right by all indications. My understanding is that is a very labor intensive job for a very easy part to replace i.e. if you didn't have to disconnect and drop the entire transmission, you could swap the seal out as easy as an oil filter. Most mechanics here in Austin are $120-150/hour. $85 is crazy cheap IMO.

 

[fblainen11]

Anything under $1k seems like a fantastic deal to me. 8 hours seems right by all indications. My understanding is that is a very labor intensive job for a very easy part to replace i.e. if you didn't have to disconnect and drop the entire transmission, you could swap the seal out as easy as an oil filter. Most mechanics here in Austin are $120-150/hour. $85 is crazy cheap IMO.

Yea, that's what Ive heard. I contemplated DIY, but figured I could get over my head quickly.
I'd rather just pay someone to do it.
I'll probably go local shop route. I've known the man for over 20 years and trust him to so good work.

Price point seems good also. Thanks!

 

[geanes]

Definitely not a job I want to do. There are just some things where I'd rather pay the money than do it myself. Oil changes, diff fluid changes, coolant flush/fill, hub bearing repacks, etc are all jobs I prefer and am capable of doing. But, the BIG jobs are just things I'd rather pay someone to do.

 

[westwardCruiser]

I have a leak and it is dripping slowly. I plan on keeping this for a long time and want to get it fixed.

If you don't mind me asking, how many miles have you got on the truck? Mine has a slow leak as well and I've just been monitoring it, waiting for another reason to drop the transmission. I lose a little over half a quart every 9 months/10k miles or so.

Seems like a rare problem we've unfortunately ran into. I have almost 280k on mine. I changed my PCV valve when I got it a couple years ago (which looked fine). I have have a theory that it started leaking after the PO started putting high mileage synthetic blend in after he got it and the Original owner who put the first 240k on it used conventional. I've been putting full synthetic Mobil 1 High Mileage in. Been considering going back to conventional next time and seeing if the leak slows down.

Have you tried any different kind of oil?

 

[FxFormat]

Rear main seal is one of those leaks that you can ignore if it's not too bad. Unless you're leaving puddles on your garage floor or is adding in a quart a week, i'd just leave it alone. All of my German cars have the RMS leak, i've been driving it for years like that, it hasn't gotten worse, just seeps out and dampen my under cover panel.

 

[fblainen11]

It is not leaving a puddle on the concrete, but it is staining and leaving a decent sized stain. I'd rather just get it fixed and not have to worry/monitor it.

I use Pennzoil Synthetic Platinum oil. Don't really want to switch oil. In my opinion it offers the best bang for the buck in engine protection. I feel like engine protection isn't worth going with an inferior oil.

Granted, all of the above is just my opinion and shouldn't be taken as absolute truth to vehicle maintenance. It's more psychological than anything I guess.

I blame my anal-retentive father for passing along the trait.

 

[fblainen11]

If you don't mind me asking, how many miles have you got on the truck? Mine has a slow leak as well and I've just been monitoring it, waiting for another reason to drop the transmission. I lose a little over half a quart every 9 months/10k miles or so.

Seems like a rare problem we've unfortunately ran into. I have almost 280k on mine. I changed my PCV valve when I got it a couple years ago (which looked fine). I have have a theory that it started leaking after the PO started putting high mileage synthetic blend in after he got it and the Original owner who put the first 240k on it used conventional. I've been putting full synthetic Mobil 1 High Mileage in. Been considering going back to conventional next time and seeing if the leak slows down.

Have you tried any different kind of oil?

I have a little over 200k on it. I don't trust the high mileage stuff and I have not considered going with a different oil. That may very well work, I'd just prefer fixing the source of the problem than treat the symptom.
Again, that may work fine for others, it would just annoy me until I got it.

 

[ibrahim83]

I've had one for about 2 years now. No change in oil level and i do it every 5k miles. It never got to the ground unless the car sits for over a week, and even then, it's usually one drop the size of a penny.

I'm debating doing it or risking the drive from TX to CO for HIH. i'm thinking i'll just drive it.

mine started at 150k and i'm at 171k now. think switching to synthetic from the dino oil it had for almost 140k did it for me.

 

[westwardCruiser]

think switching to synthetic from the dino oil it had for almost 140k did it for me.

That's all I was trying to say. I don't think putting HM oil in is a good idea either. Wish the PO would have just stuck with what was working but I was afraid that going back to plain old conventional would just make matters worse. From what I've read once you go HM you can't (shouldn't) go back.

I am thinking at some future point I'll just replace all oil seals at once and get off the HM junk.

Just replaced a leaking axle seal, so one thing at a time

Oh, and I drove to HIH from Pennsylvania last year if that helps you make your decision. See you there in a few months!