Front crank seal and possibly back.

Written quote great idea

 

I have never had anything done without a written quote. If you just let them do work they will charge you some ungodly crazy price. Get a quote and then figure out if they are worth investing in.

 

Not to mention all the rusted broken stuff and previous roadside hack repairs you have to work through to get at it. And everything hurts a lot more when it falls on you.

 

It all depends on what’s needed, and your budget. Weighing out other possible needed repairs in the future. A reman trans is at least $3000. Labor to swap it is usually 8 hrs. The Labor price should be agreed upon, with any extras needing approval. Good time to change a u joint or linkage, maybe cooler lines, that adds a bit to the bill.If the trans goes bad later, it will cost an extra $800. Meanwhile if it’s fine, you’ll save about $4000 now, that can be used for other maintenance and repairs as needed. Sometimes you can find a Shop that can “rebuild” your trans. for half the price of a reman. Other Shops will charge the same. That’s a judgment decision, depending on the Shop. I like knowing how much the costs are going to be upfront. Leaving it with a Dealership with a blank check will surely cost at least 50% more. I did my rear structure seal, rear main. Flywheel and clutch. Not the trans. Even though my current reman trans has well over a million miles. If I need a trans in the future, it can be swapped out, leaving the clutch intact, for 8 hr Labor.

 

Can you get us some pictures?

It’s not uncommon for a DD to leak at the back of the pan.

I don’t trust any truck stop to change my oil let alone do any type of repairs.

 

Yes. But give me a couple days. And I will photo the progression.

 

So a shop put an injector in my rig a few weeks ago and when I got it back home I noticed it was pouring oil on the ground at the back of the oil pan. You'd think a bad rear main seal leak if you didn't know it was just worked on. What it was they actually pinched part of the wire harness under the valve cover so it was not sealed up just pouring oil out the back end of the valve cover. Now this had to have been obvious to the mechanic on the test run. My engine is so clean you could eat off of it when I dropped it off. He put in his notes "tested it and steam cleaned it afterwards". Nice work!!! But yeah sometimes all is not as it seems. I'd make #### sure it REALLY needed a new rear or front seal before paying the labor on that job.

 

You make it sound easy. I'd like to see you do it that fast. It depends on how the truck is set up how long it actually takes. How much salt it's been in, and how rusted everything is adds time as well.

 

I never do just a rear main. It’s a rear structure reseal or take it elsewhere. As @Rideandrepair said do it in tandem with a clutch job will save you money. Being certain where a leak is coming from will save you as well.


Everything isn’t always so cut and dry on how quickly a job goes. What should take 10 minutes can take 10 hours due to pressure and time

 

That's why I hate that flat rate mentality BS. Trucks (used to be) so different that you could put two W900's side by side and they'd literally have nothing in common besides the cab and hood.

My first clutch job took me just over 14 hours. I also had two PTOs AND a drop box to contend with. Not to mention it was a Western Star, so rear of the engine needed to be supported.

Can't quote a job sight unseen.