PShep

Three weeks ago I had my transmission replaced by Acura free of charge as well as ball joints, alignment, and rotation. Lately I have been noticing oil spots all over my driveway so today I brought the car in and they told me that its the rear main seal. They quoted me at $1050 for the labor and I told them I'd like to hold off to shop it around. I called up a local certified mechanic I know and he seemed shocked that they didn't replace, or even inspect, the rear main seal while they had the transmission out. At this point I am a bit upset and I would like to know if the rear main seal is something that is normally checked or serviced while doing a transmission replacement.

VQPower37

it should have been inspected, because its like an 8 dollar seal and all the money is for labor. talk to them and c if they can work with you as just 3 weeks ago they were in the area that they could've just replaced the seal for u

PShep

Talked to the service manager and she assures me that the mechanic would have inspected the seal. Whats the inspection worth if the seal is leaking 3 weeks later?

VQPower37

screw the service manager they dont know anything ... go up the ladder, seems like a money making scheme to me ... if we dont fix it now they will have to come back later and pay a lot more to get the same thing fixed

PShep

Talked to Acura client services who put a case manager on it. Also called up AAMCO to get a quote and he said it would be $485 + cost of the seal. Really hope it doesn't come to that though.

01tl4tl

Before the trans is even out:
if the rear main is leaking it will be dripping down and obvious fluid will drip all up your arm when the inspection plate is removed- the plate you remove to undo the inner trans connection
the seal itself is located behind the flywheel - so no direct visual, but oil leak would be the same no matter where viewed--drips are drips and if its been doing it more than a few days it will plain to see

This is NOT a matter of dicking you around
If the tech sees a problem, they get paid extra for the extra work,,,its about 1/2 hour to remove flywheel- replace seal- replace flywheel- with the trans already removed

to repair it now means 4+ hours labor for R&R trans and flywheel- though our megamod can do it much faster- so can the acura techs

So its not PROVABLE as dealers fault- BUT in the interest of customer satisfaction they should eat the labor and charge you only for the seal and flywheel removal--they MAY have damaged it during trans install--
ck the rest of the install carefully
ck coolant level

It is NOT standard to replace that seal with the trans,,if the trans has been out 2-3 times I would suggest a new seal- its been jostled a bit too much then.
The seal is directly impacted by the installation of the trans,

anyone getting a warranty trans might want to pay the extra for that to be done for safety

note- if dealer says you need front motor mount with trans- it does!
the labor with trans job is ~30 dollars vs 150-200+ labor, plus the 150 dollar part

fsttyms1

The problem is is that nothing passes thru the seal in the trans replacement so it s unlikely that the trans removal damaged it. The trans tq converter bolts to the flex plate,That is bolted to the crank. In order to inspect the seal they would have to remove the flex plate which isnt needed to remove and replace the trans. I highly doubt they did.

PShep

Step 47 of the transmission removal shows removing the flex plate to inspect or replace it. Does the flex plate come into contact with the rear main seal? After doing some searches I've found two others who have recently complained of having their rear main seal go bad just after having PS recall work done. Probably not related but it raises suspicion.

fsttyms1

It all depends on "IF" the mechanic follows step 47. Odds are No.

There is no way rear mains go bad from PS work. Rear mains on these motors are knows to leak, especially with the J32A2

01tl4tl

DOh! on me for forgetting how these parts connect to each other

I bow to kris' superior brain - engine rear main seal not touched by trans during R&R of trans...or ps pump lol

they do wear out, its a known thing, smart ziners have it done with trans replacement
Sadly service writers are often NOT techs,, and dont know to suggest it unless the actual tech says `its leaking today`
not many customers want to spend more than they have to...