RMS Saga - Did I Get Taken on a Transmission Drop?

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i washed off the entire area, cleaned up the insides of the inspection hole till it was dry. put a small bottle of dye in the engine and drove around. The only spot i see the dye using my UV flashlight is the inspection hole. Its oozing out from the hole itself and leaking from the seam as well.
 
aztoytec said:
Was $850 the total bill? What are there hourly rates? I don’t know what book time is but appears really low. I can check tomorrow if you’re interested.
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Yeah. That’s cheap. Especially being 4wd.
 
@nashqadri said : "Its oozing out from the hole itself and leaking from the seam as well."

Do you mean the small ~3/16" round hole at the bottom front of the bell housing
and the "seam" at the bottom of the bell housing??

If so, that is not the correct place to look.

As previously discussed (see page 1) you need to remove the plastic inspection cover, it just pops off, then using a mechanics mirror or an inspection camera
(or your phone) go in through the ~rectangular inspection port, then up, and look forward toward the front of the vehicle to see the rear main and upper pan arch area.

Here is the photo of what you're looking for from the thread posted on page 1:

FZJ80 rear main seal and upper oil pan arch.webp



The rear main seal is the brownish circular thingy
The rear arch of the upper oil pan is where you see black sealant oozing out.

It would help if you could take a clear photo of that area, try with your phone inserted into the inspection port if it will fit.
 
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Kernal said:
@nashqadri said : "Its oozing out from the hole itself and leaking from the seam as well."

Do you mean the small ~3/16" round hole at the bottom front of the bell housing
and the "seam" at the bottom of the bell housing??

If so, that is not the correct place to look.

As previously discussed (see page 1) you need to remove the plastic inspection cover, it just pops off, then using a mechanics mirror or an inspection camera
(or your phone) go in through the ~rectangular inspection port, then up, and look forward toward the front of the vehicle to see the rear main and upper pan arch area.

Here is the photo of what you're looking for from the thread posted on page 1:

View attachment 4019731


The rear main seal is the brownish circular thingy
The rear arch of the upper oil pan is where you see black sealant oozing out.

It would help if you could take a clear photo of that area, try with your phone inserted into the inspection port if it will fit.
Click to expand...
I meant the inspection rectangular hole. I removed the cover and then took a video using a camera. There is oil in there for sure which is seeping out to the outside seam but cant tell if it is the arch of the upper pan or is it the rear main seal. @Kernal perhaps, you can tell if you watch the video. Once thing to note is that the oil leaks all teh time. Its not just when the vehicle is running so maybe that is a clue whether it's the seal or the upper pan arch. If i leave it parked for a long time, i am sure there wont be any oil left in the motor.

 
Best guess is the rear arch of the upper pan but hard to tell with the movement of the camera/video.

Appears like the rear main seal may have been installed with a sealant.

Can you take some high resolution still photos of that area showing the seal and the rear arch.

Others will chime in with their thoughts.
 
Kernal said:
Best guess is the rear arch of the upper pan but hard to tell with the movement of the camera/video.

Appears like the rear main seal may have been installed with a sealant.

Can you take some high resolution still photos of that area showing the seal and the rear arch.

Others will chime in with their thoughts.
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I would agree . Oil appears to start at the arch.
1761684456322.webp
 
Discussed the situation today with the mechanic on the phone and then wrote a firm email with the video that I took…asked for money back to which he agreed after a bit of an un-pleasant conversation. Hopefully Monday afternoon I will get the refund of the $850.
 
@nashqadri : Was the conversation that he didn't fix the correct problem or ??

Would still like to see a clear photo of the rear arch and crank seal showing the leak ie: for future searches.
 
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Kernal said:
@nashqadri : Was the conversation that he didn't fix the correct problem or ?? ie: what did you say, what did he say?

Would still like to see a clear photo of the rear arch and crank seal showing the leak ie: for future searches.
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Yes Kernal, the conversation was exactly that he didn't fix the problem of oil leakage and then he misled me after my visits back to him by telling me that the oil leak source is elsewhere.

When I took the vehicle to him, i told him that my own diagnosis is that the rear main is leaking but i asked him to ensure if i am right. I could be wrong and if it is not the seal then tell me what it is before starting the job. He called me the next day and told me that oil is leaking from the rear main as well as the power steering and timing chain cover. That is the oil leak which is being blown back with airflow. I asked him to fix all of them. He said he does not have the tools to fix the power steering. That to me was odd but whatever. I told him to fix the rear main then. The moment i lost trust was when he showed me the receipt in which he put all responsibility on me that i diagnosed the problem and he did as he was told. That was not a fact.

I called him and told him my own investigation findings but he didnt budge.

I then wrote him a nastygram to the email address published on his website. Called him and told him to read the email asap. See the attachments.

Picture of Rims_1.webp


Picture of Rims_2.webp
 
@nashqadri : When you get a minute could you take a few still photos of the rear main seal and rear arch (like the photo in post #23 above).
It might help to first clean that area off then run the engine a bit then take the photos.
 
That picture can be taken once the transmission is removed. The seal is not visible from the outside. But I will take a picture when the job is being redone.
 
nashqadri said:
That picture can be taken once the transmission is removed. The seal is not visible from the outside. But I will take a picture when the job is being redone.
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The bottom of the seal is visible through the inspection port. It is difficult but I was able to use a mechanic's inspection mirror and could clearly see that my leak was from the rear main seal and not from the arch in the upper oil pan.

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lumbee1 said:
The bottom of the seal is visible through the inspection port. It is difficult but I was able to use a mechanic's inspection mirror and could clearly see that my leak was from the rear main seal and not from the arch in the upper oil pan.

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Okay. I will try again.
 
nashqadri said:
He did
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I gave my engine builder a Toyota OEM rear main seal, even though one came in the LC Engineering kit. I don't know if there is a visual difference between the two.
 
lumbee1 said:
I gave my engine builder a Toyota OEM rear main seal, even though one came in the LC Engineering kit. I don't know if there is a visual difference between the two.
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If I supplied parts, he would have had the leverage to blame on the part for the leak.
 
Have you found a new mechanic with previous experience working on an FZJ80?

You can pull the engine to replace the upper oil pan (and do 20 other services/repairs like the head gasket, timing cover reseal, etc)
or find someone who knows how to pull/drop the oil pans with the engine in the vehicle.

alia176

Thread 'Upper oil pan arch seal renew'

Oil pan arch seal project

I tackled re-sealing the famous arch seal this weekend. This project is a little involved but fairly straight forward. While I had the engine raised, I took the opportunity to replace the motor mounts. I'm an ameteur so I'm sure there're more efficient ways to do this! I'd say this to be :banana: :banana::banana::banana: job.

It went something like this:
- wash the underside of your vehicle thoroughly at a car was. You'll thank yourself later!
- park on top of 4x4 or 6x6 wood or a set of ramps. Just make sure that you can still reach everything w/o...
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Others will chime in with their experience on how to fix the rear arch of the upper pan.
 
nashqadri said:
If I supplied parts, he would have had the leverage to blame on the part for the leak.
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That's why I asked who supplied the parts. I have a friend with a auto mechanic shop he has had people in the past self diagnose the there problem and bring in parts and it has cost him now he will no longer install customer parts nor wave diagnostic fee he has also put aftermarket parts as a last resort oem parts if available first. I don't claim to be a auto mechanic shop more alof a specialty shop and fabrication shop i use oem Toyota parts
 
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