Rear main bearing seal (1998)
 

The dealer says it need to be replaced and they have to pull the whole engine to do this. Is that true? They want $1000 to do it. I just need some information on this topic. If its not that hard, maybe my dad will just have a BC mini-meet at our house and some Bonneville nuts can help fix it.

Either the engine or the trans has to be pulled to replace the rear main bearing (rear crankshaft) seal. When you get the engine separated from the trans, you will see the rear crank seal carrier. The oil pan has to come down too. It is easier to do the rear main seal with the engine out of the car, but you can do it with just the trans out, too.

$1000/$70/hr = 14 hrs. That is about right. Pulling engines and transaxles takes time and skill. If you don't have a hoist for pulling the engine or the engine with the trans, you can drop the trans out the bottom by supporting the engine with an engine hanger. Or you can rent a hoist. Procedures for pulling trans, and engine with trans are detailed in Techinfo.

You may also want to consider changing out the pump seal on the trans when you have them apart. That is the other big seal that resides between the engine and trans.

Or like all the rest of us.. you can simply wipe the oil pan and area each oil change.

That's what I do..

I just had my rear main seal done..

#1 Don't go to a dealer, as far as around here, it's like handing in your entire wallet.
#2 The estimated labor hours, was 7, not 14. That's entirely ridiculous, what are they doing, rebuilding the motor?

Total cost to me was $500, which from looking here and there was right, please don't spend more than you should, it's gonna hurt all of us. I had the Tranny and flywheel dropped and it done, then put back together, works like a charm.

I ended up taking it to another shop that services only GM cars. They sad its the oil pan and said that should get rid of most if not all leaks if I get that done. They also suggested a trans service, he quoted both the oil pan gaskets and trans service at ~$300. So we will probaly get that done and see where that takes us.

Yeah that's about right there (that price) and believe me, my oil pan gasket has to get done too, stupid GM and their faulty gaskets :-)

Um, yeah sounds like you are realling getting the shaft now :roll:

Mike..all manufacturers have gaskets that can leak. it's imperfections usually in other parts that allow gaskets to leak. For example..on an series 2 motor...according to a local part guy at the dealer, you should use engine sealant with the gasket.

Oil pan gasket is around $45 at the parts store, plus oil and filter, plus labor..s/b ~$150ish. a trans service if they are servicing and flushing could easily run ~$150. Trans filter kit is around $20 plus fluid and labor.

Not sure where in Potatoland you are getting hosed for not getting dirty. It sounds expensive, but realistically isn't the worst price you could get.

I would say you got a pretty low price ($500 your cost) for r&r on a transaxle. Or did the dealer split the cost with you, and was the cost for the work actually $1000? Either way, If they did install a new rear crank seal, they had to have dropped the oil pan to do it correctly. This is because the bottom of the rear seal carrier joins to the engine block to form several inches of sealing surface for the oil pan. To prevent the oil pan from leaking, you need to be careful to align the seal carrier flush with the engine block at the oil pan sealing surface and make sure that the joints between the block and the seal carrier are sealed properly with RTV silicone. It is also a good idea to replace the oil pan gasket as the old bead may have taken a "set" on the old carrier/block joint.

I suppose I am getting slower as I get older. Still, 7 hours would require some pretty quick wrenching. Maybe they were not as careful as they needed to be around that tricky area. I know I could never get that job done that quickly.

I have found this old adage to be dependably true: Economy, Quality, Speed. Select two; sacrifice the third.

The total for the work was $500, I paid $250 myself, it was estimated 7 hours labor by a set number on a cd the mechanic had that was pretty standard to all people. Also as far as I know, the oil pan was not removed, the tranny and flywheel was simply removed (along with suspension parts to get it out, etc), I'll ask though when I see him.