I had got my trans replaced back in Feb and only noticed yesterday that my "Aruca", my cars name , was leaking engine oil. Took it in to the stealership yesterday and received a call today stating that it will cost me $1175 to change the $10 seal. It's not leaking bad and I don't drive "lively" much due to all the pot holes and speed bumps in CHI. Would it be safe to wait it out, frequently checking oil level, through out my warranty period of my trans (2 1/2 yrs left)
to see if trans goes out and then change the seal? If not, I plan to look around for good tech that won't charge me dealer price. Just wanted to here some thoughts from you guys. Thanks!

 

1100 dollars to do a 5 hour job? book gives 4 hours to remove and reinstall trans
extra half hour or so to remove flywheel/flexplate and some minutes to replace the 10 dollar seal

did you get a price from the service writer?
if so go to the service manager and talk about trans removed recently- cost now to get that seal can be adjusted....
I wish dealers would sell that when trans is out- its good preventative maitenance

dont keep hoping it stays together- when it fails, most of the engine oil pumps out in a very short time

call some trans shops in the area

 

i dunno what to tell you. but they should have offered to replace that part when they did the tranny install. it's RIGHT there. I know i replaced mine when i did my swap before installing the flywheel because i heard they tend to leak. good luck.

 

find a small independent shop and see what they would charge.

 

I did get that quote from the service writer initially and asked to speak with the manager but he said they wouldnt have seen the condition of the seal since the flywheel was in the way at the time.
I honestly think they left that preventative measure out on purpo$e. I know this wasn't the first time they saw this. What's funny is that the service writer said it was the first time she ever saw this type of leak. BS.....
I will take your recomendation on getting it changed asap as I don't want to deal with an even bigger leak and not be able to drive the car to a shop.
Thanks for your replies and I'll post back on my outcome.

 

thats true- you cannot see the seal with the flexplate installed, and if its not leaking.. its not leaking at the time~ might never leak

if the customer is smarter than the service writer--they will ask for it to be replaced.

MANY service writers no nothing about cars- they SELL repairs.. that is their job,
and you never admit this problem has been seen before-
or they should have known to offer you a replacement for an extra 50 bucks at the time

Its not common enough for them to suggest replacement normally,,when you can barely get the customer to approve a broken front motor mount with their free trans jobs!!

 

Silly business. If you feel like getting upset, do a search for rear main seal and check out all the cases of this happening soon after the dealership does this sort of work to the car. This makes the third case of this in a couple of months(mine included) along with numerous prior.

 

I just simply felt I was "in good hands" while my trans was being replaced as they honored my trans swap even though it was expired by a month or so. So looking back at that I still come out winning due to all the money I saved from the honored expired warranty (best way to look at it).

It sucks to have to find time and "be smarter than the service writers" while being smarter for other things going on in life. Just would have liked a little preventative service for the amount of money I put in for the car. $0.02.

I ordered the seal and should arrive Monday or Tuesday. I took advantage of the situation and since I am soon due for an oil change and spark plugs I ordered seafoam, NGK Iridiums, K&N drop in and have added 3000k HID fogs and removed AI resonator. Might do the mid muffler deletes as well today. This all helps with getting this whole dilema out of my mind.
Getting quotes from 2 places today. I'll post details once I get'em.

 

3 reports of seal failures on azine does not make a major percentage for all the TLs on the road~

nothing done in the trans swap affects the rear main seal
keep your oil changed using quality products,,grit gets in the seal and destroys it

 

the training service writers get is on the needs on the newer cars, what services when- and what to sell as upgrades

knowing the small details of a 10 year old car is not their first priority,
new car owners tend to spend more on extra bs services than we will...if our car is even at the dealers!

 

Very true. I always changed my oil on time for 5 yrs using Mobil1. I also never used detergents. I have about 83k miles now.
In what series would you say I should do the things I mentioned above, including the seal repair, considering I have crud in my engine in order to greet the new seal to a nice clean engine?

 

Just got a quote for $450 at a CarStar body/mech/sales shop 20 mins away in Berwyn. That was good enough for me. They have a huge place, like a block long. I made an appointment for Monday morning.

 

good. thats a much better price. good luck.

 

Let alone trying to reach them at the phone# they promised to be at.

 

if it were my car: add 1/2 can seafoam to oil and drive at least 30 miles/minutes
-preferably a few trips like that, will liquify carbon and crud- let it flow thru the system and into the filter

at 85 and seal leak- I would also install a cheap oil filter, then add foam- drive 30+
that gives a safety margin for crud capacity- assuming current filter nearly full and the amount of stuff that may be unleashed...3-4 bucks is cheap insurance

make sure to warm the oil and reliquify the crud if its left sitting overnight
drive 15 minutes on freeway to generate real heat into the system
drain and oil and change filter with whatever brand you like normally
next oil change may come a little sooner than 7500 due to residual cleaner in system still working

then to the shop for oil seal

the heat we need to liquify crud with seafoam - is not the same as heat on the temp guage --the freeway drive gets real heat and moving fluid at higher pressure
I also use vtec burst to get cleaner run thru it in action

 

Sounds good to me. Just to make sure I got this in order:

1.Change to cheap oil filter
2.Drop 1/2 can SF into engine
3.Drive 30 miles/mins@85 bursting the always lovely VTEC
4.Change oil
5.Seal change

I was also planning on using SF through the AI line. Would that be coo?

On a side note, I did my mid muffler delete for $30 today and it sounds great!
While it was in the air I saw the oil drips a little bit more in quantity than usual.
Planning to do the SF on Sunday night and then to the shop on Monday morning.
Then change plugs to my new Iridiums a couple days after or should I wait longer? (considering the residue)

 

AI line?--do you mean the intake manifold master vac port at TB?
thats fine if you want to now

with more oil leaking out: I would avoid the 85mph high rpm high oil pressure runs or you may end up on the tow truck
might be smart to wait on the seafoam in oil until you have a good seal installed to be safe
that will still rid crud and not hurt the seal

you can do the plugs next day after seafoam - dont do them with engine hot! (aluminum heads)

there is more oil leaking than you can see- it has to work its way out the inspection cover,,may be full in there!!

 

That makes alot of sense. Thanks for the heads up. I will wait 'till it's sealed good then hit the I90 and SF everyone in sight...lol.

 

Got car back from mechanic and immidiatley dropped in a K&N air filter and sea foamed engine, fuel tank, and intake through master vac port @ TB. After some fun driving changed oil and it now runs soooo smooth. My buddy who has an '03 CL also did the seafoaming and we both got the same results. Our Acura's smoked out for a bit and then went away fairly quickly. I guess we had pretty clean engines to begin with?
My TL's and buddies CL's responsiveness has went up very noticeably. Thanks guys for all your tips.