What Does a Rear Main Seal Leak Cost to Repair?

Repair costs are often difficult to accept and understand. Unless you do all of your own maintenance on your vehicles, you’ve probably been to a garage where you got an estimate on a repair and just had to wonder if they were ripping you off, over charging you or replacing things that really didn’t need to be fixed. Getting a second opinion can be frustrating and driving all over town looking for the repair shop that will give you the best price can be time consuming.

In my experience there can be quite a discrepancy from one mechanic to another in how much a job will cost to fix the problem. There are a few reasons for that. Being a mechanic can be a tough business with a lot of overhead to cover. Consider all the costs that go into having a repair garage.

Costs of running an automotive repair shop:

Insurance in case you damage a customer’s car
Very expensive lifts, tools and diagnostic equipment
Hazardous material disposal
Building Rent
Stock inventory of parts for many different makes on model cars
Current repair manuals and procedures for new vehicles every year

All these different costs go into how much a mechanic has to charge you for repair work, in addition to their time and expertise. To help keep costs down, many garages will only keep on hand certain tools, especially when it comes to large equipment. So before you bring a big job to a garage make sure they have the right tools for the job.

In the case of a rear main seal leak, many specialty tools can be required. Often with a rear main seal leak the engine has to be removed from the vehicle to replace the seal. The rear main seal is what seals the crankshaft to the engine block and keeps engine oil from leaking out around the crank. It’s called the rear main seal because it seals the rear of the crank shaft where it bolts to the transmission. In order to properly complete this job a garage would have to have a transmission jack, engine hoist and engine stand. Many garages do not have this equipment on hand, and the ones that do often charge a premium for them.

All of these things put together make replacing a rear main seal a very expensive ordeal that often will leave your vehicle at the repair shop for days or even weeks. If you’ve discovered you need a rear main seal replacement and are trying to determine a fair price for the job, consider finding an online automotive forum specific to your make and model car, for example, http://www.camryforums.com/forum/. Often times these forums will include other people’s experiences with similar repairs to the one you are facing and can help estimate the cost.

Before you go to Google looking for the appropriate forum, try heading to www.gobludevil.com and checking out BlueDevil’s line of automotive stop leak products. BlueDevil Rear Main Sealer is guaranteed to stop the leak or drip from your rear main seal without the costly repair bill. BlueDevil Rear Main Sealer is not a petroleum distillate so it will not destroy or harm your seal. You can add BlueDevil rear main sealer to stop your rear main seal leak and it can safely stay in your engine oil until your next oil change, if not, Blue Devil Oil Stop Leak works great on oil leaks as well.