If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy?
 

About 2 weeks ago, I posted about the dealership trying to rip me off. Well the dealership called me today, asking why I have not brought it back in to get my Rear Main Seal an Oil Pan Gasket taken care of. I told them straight up that I thought they were trying to rip me off, and that I am not leaking any oil, and and the oil level isnt really changing at all, I never have to add oil, and then they tried to tell me that it would be leaking slowly, and the heat of the engine would be buring it off before it hit the ground, I started laughing at the guy and asked him how about when my car is parked for 2 days and it doesn leak? Then the guy went on trying to say that it would only leak when the car was on and stuff. THEN he asked what day and time I want to come in to get the work done, I started laughing and hung up on him.

I am right arent I? This guy is retarded, if my rear main seal was bad, or my oil pan gasket, wouldnt I be leaking oil? My garage is spot free, and I always check my parking spot at work after I pull out to see if I am leaking anyhting, and NOTHING IS LEAKING.

Is this guy retarded or what?

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

Dude have you actually crawled under the car to look for yourself?? No the guy on the phone was not crazy, every thing he said is very possible...

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

Very likely indeed. Most main leaks are slow and/or accumulate dust that acts as a sponge as it runs down. Chances of actually dripping are very slim. That said a slow oil leak is far from catastrophic. First obviously find out if it is in fact leaking, then depending on your financial situation evaluate how big a deal it is to you. I say that because every Jeep on the road with an in-line 6 has a leaking rear main.

And if you do find something and decide to fix it...take your car somewhere else! Don't let someone who's pissed off at you ever work on your car!

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

It only takes a drop of oil to make it look like a mess. He is very right in all his statments, however that doesn't mean that you should always trust a mechanic without doing some investigation of your own. Most places have standards of what is "broken" and what isn't. To them, your main seal might be leaking enough to be changed, however to a average person they can live with it until it really starts leaking.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

Where exactly is the rear main seal? How do I locate it?

I just replaced my oil pan gasket like 6 months ago, I do not see how that could possibly be bad, maybe he noticed oil residue and thought it could be eiteher, but is suggesting I do both?

I will definetly not take it there, I only took it there for a 17.99 oil change special they were having.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Schmitey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I say that because every Jeep on the road with an in-line 6 has a leaking rear main.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
HAHAHA aint that the truth. And dont forget the Germans. I have not ever ran across a mercedes /BMW/ VW that wasnt leaking...

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

If its not leaking and your not having to add any oil... I think they are just trying to do the typical mechanic BS and milk you for money on bogus repairs. Its a just a gasket and from your description its sealed, it is doing its job.

Believe me, if/ when the pan or rear main starts leaking your going to know it.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by m1ndless &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where exactly is the rear main seal? How do I locate it?

I just replaced my oil pan gasket like 6 months ago, I do not see how that could possibly be bad, maybe he noticed oil residue and thought it could be eiteher, but is suggesting I do both?

I will definetly not take it there, I only took it there for a 17.99 oil change special they were having. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Rear main seal is behind the flywheel. Generally if it's leaking and leaking bad, you're clutch will start to slip. Otherwise you'd probably never know without actually going back there to take a look.

If your oil pan is warped it may still leak a tiny bit even with a new gasket on there. But that's generally not a big deal either.

Honestly, if you're not losing that much oil I wouldn't worry about it until it gets bad.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by twkdCD595 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If its not leaking and your not having to add any oil... I think they are just trying to do the typical mechanic BS and milk you for money on bogus repairs. Its a just a gasket and from your description its sealed, it is doing its job.

Believe me, if/ when the pan or rear main starts leaking your going to know it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not really..the scenario laid out by the service writer can very well be true. You may never see a drop until it gets worse (or switch to syn oil) Thats why I suggested he look for his self...

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cb7-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
HAHAHA aint that the truth. And dont forget the Germans. I have not ever ran across a mercedes /BMW/ VW that wasnt leaking...</TD></TR></TABLE>
And Land/Range rovers. Just about every one that comes in has all three gearboxes, the engine AND transmission leaking.......HAHAH so much for those $40k plus SUVs.

I've got a similar problem. I've got a 95 LX wagon with approx. 135k miles on it. I switched to 5W-30 Mobil 1 and had NO LEAKS. After having a shop (albiet under the table) do my clutch because I had no time to do it myself, they called while the car was apart and stated that my rear main seal was busted and needed to be replaced. W/o hesitating, I told them to go ahead and replace it. Fast forward a week and NOW I HAVE LEAKS! I've since then switched to 15W-50 Mobil 1 and it still leaks. Should I have even had it replaced? Seems they tried to scare me into it because I didn't want the new clutch to prematurely fail.....

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

have them do it under warranty, the could of torn the seal if the peened it in there with a 40oz hammer.

To the op. ask them to wash down the engine and dry it off completly. run the car up and down the block a few times, then pick it up again. You cant look for leaks on a dirty engine. Once its clean, and you've driven it for a few km's then have them point out any leaks on the hoist. If you dont see any leaks, then they are full of shit. If the rear main/oil pan is leaking, humble yourself, apalogise to the service advisor/mechanic then consider doing the work.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MestizoRacer310 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
And Land/Range rovers. Just about every one that comes in has all three gearboxes, the engine AND transmission leaking.......HAHAH so much for those $40k plus SUVs.

I've got a similar problem. I've got a 95 LX wagon with approx. 135k miles on it. I switched to 5W-30 Mobil 1 and had NO LEAKS. After having a shop (albiet under the table) do my clutch because I had no time to do it myself, they called while the car was apart and stated that my rear main seal was busted and needed to be replaced. W/o hesitating, I told them to go ahead and replace it. Fast forward a week and NOW I HAVE LEAKS! I've since then switched to 15W-50 Mobil 1 and it still leaks. Should I have even had it replaced? Seems they tried to scare me into it because I didn't want the new clutch to prematurely fail.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Evevn if there is nothing wrong with seal it is always best to replace it while doing a clutch job. The seal it self is only 5-15 bucks and there is no additional labor needed. If you have leaks now then they most likely installed it wrong or damaged it...

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cb7-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Not really..the scenario laid out by the service writer can very well be true. You may never see a drop until it gets worse (or switch to syn oil) Thats why I suggested he look for his self...</TD></TR></TABLE>

his oil level is not changing and he is not having to add any oil per his first post... so if it is leaking, it must be refilling itself.

I had a small oil leak on my daily driver (not my boosted 95) and replaced a main seal... it definately was losing oil and did make it to the ground. as it would in this case if it is such a leak that requires the seal to be changed, as the dealer is trying to say it needs be.

oil is not going to be burned off before it makes it to the ground... thicken with dirt and whatnot yes, but externally your engine is not hot enough to burn off oil (minus of course the exhaust manifold which would be easily noticed). if it is, you have other problems. hell internally in a properly running motor the cyl interior, combustion chamber, and head exhaust ports are really the only places hot enough to burn oil. that is a result of direct exposure to combustion temps. (1000 degrees).

but agian he is not losing any oil at all and the level is not changing, so... I doubt it needs replacing.

my 2 cents.


Modified by twkdCD595 at 9:16 AM 6/8/2007

bs at "some" $tealerships..
 

they want to make your car like new. why is that?
many people are ripped. glad you are educating yourself on their ways of shaking coin from their customers.
your dipstick is your friend:no oil loss, no problem. i have had serious oil leaks at seals. repair decisions should be made on economics.
reminds me of other threads; is it not true that when a new car uses oil, the dealer will deny it is a problem unless comsumption is worse that a 1000 miles/quart?
i recall that as a rule of thumb-a few years ago.
service managers upsell so bad.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MestizoRacer310 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've got a similar problem. I've got a 95 LX wagon with approx. 135k miles on it. I switched to 5W-30 Mobil 1 and had NO LEAKS. After having a shop (albiet under the table) do my clutch because I had no time to do it myself, they called while the car was apart and stated that my rear main seal was busted and needed to be replaced. W/o hesitating, I told them to go ahead and replace it. Fast forward a week and NOW I HAVE LEAKS! I've since then switched to 15W-50 Mobil 1 and it still leaks. Should I have even had it replaced? Seems they tried to scare me into it because I didn't want the new clutch to prematurely fail.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take it back pronto to keep from ruining the new clutch. Most likely they screwed up the new seal. However, it is possible to ding up the shaft which will make it chew through a seal...thus you need a new crank. Not saying that's what they did, but definitely take it back in. You might ask to look at the crank too and carefully inspect it for even the slightest scratch.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

Well, they said they'd have to do a tear down to "pinpoint" the cause.....they are saying it could be a bad crank or the oil plug just above the rear main seal are the causes of my leaks. I told them forget it. If they were a reputable shop they would've called a leaking oil plug to my attention while they had it open the first time.

Re: If my Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Gasket was bad.. Wouldnt I be leaking Oil? Or am I just crazy? (
 

Well its been a few weeks since they said the main seal needed to be replaced, no oil spots, no burnt oil smell, nothing. I got down and checked it out, from what I can tell, there is no oil leak anywhere. There is a little resedue around the oil pan, so I might have to replace the gasket afterall, but that isnt too bad of a job.