I talked to my mechanic who told me the book labor for replacing the rear main oil seal on my car is 7.5 hours, because the only way to get at it is to pull the engine.

Is this true? (mine is leaking)

Yep...7.5 labour is not too too bad. Sucks for a 10 dollars seal though.

how bad is it leaking? If its not to bad, keep an eye on your oil level, and shop around for the best hourly rate as most shops are at 80/hr. now.

WOW 80hr geez My buddy just did one at his shop for 55hr rate

Joe... Keep in mind that'* Canadaian $ vs. US $.

hello i wasnt thinkin about that??

On the Ford vehicles (did most of my apprenticeship there) we would drop the subframe with the whole powertrain (engine and tranny) with a hydraulic table. I could get an engine out of a taurus or winstar in about an hour and a half, do the work and then jack it right back up without moving the table or the vehicle. I miss those days....

80 an hour is an import dealer rate or a large city dealer rate. Find a smaller reputable shop and you probably can get 50-60 an hour.

II just did the clutch in my saturn and while I had the transmission out I replaced the rear seal because it was leaking. Depending on the shop though they do it different ways. I was lucky enough to be able to bring my car into the shop after hours and do it, otherwise I would have ended up pulling the engine and transmission from the top to do the work.

Imports.. They should just put a sign on the top of the engine when you pop the hood "Nothing you can do, call a tow truck". It took my friend 4 trys to rebuild the transaxel in his commuter civic. He can do pretty much anything, and wasnt about to shovel out a ton of money just to get it rebuilt, But it still took 4 trys.