oil leak : $1650 repair estimate

['82supra]

You could get your driveway resurfaced for less...on the plus side, you're checking fluid levels regularly and adding clean oil.

[ringwraith]

you ever tried that oil leak stopping stuff you can add to your oil? I think it's made by Gunk or w/e. My pickup just started leaking pretty bad out of the rear main, added that stuff, and it's slowed down pretty good. Not sure how well it will work long term, but for a $10 bottle it's worth a shot.

[one2spooku]

you ever tried that oil leak stopping stuff you can add to your oil? I think it's made by Gunk or w/e. My pickup just started leaking pretty bad out of the rear main, added that stuff, and it's slowed down pretty good. Not sure how well it will work long term, but for a $10 bottle it's worth a shot.

Eeeww!


Anyways, Pan gasket might be a PIA. Not sure. As far as the front and rear mains go... If ya gotta do the pan gasket regardless.... You can yank the engine fairly quickly. Few hoses, glove box, fishing the wiring, some bolts. Timing belt and all the goods with it I don't believe have ever gone over the 300$ price tag. A new tensionor is the spendy part. Rear main is cheap. Pan gasket can't be too crazy. Even if ya lack the tools you can find a Supra geek to do it quite a bit cheaper. That or your on the wrong side of the mountains. Shops charge 100$ + an hour usually. This disgusts me but its the way of the world. Can't say its simple work simply because of the tools required but this isn't rocket science. I'd probably do the timing belt in shorts and socks. That would include the seals and junk from the front of the engine. That's like a 2-3 hour job at a relaxed pace. Yanking the engine and replacing the rear main and the pan gasket, Maybe what? 4 hours? Not positive on that. No more than 8 hours of work and 500$ for parts. Even at 100$ an hour it's still less than your estimate. If I had to pay someone to work on my car, It wouldn't be that place. Find a local person to help ya out. 2 people can remove the hood and line up the engine a lot easier than one. Saves time. If all else fails, PM me. I'll save ya some money


Edit: They want to replace the timing belt without touching the tensionor or replacing the crank pulley bolt. Bolt should be replaced. Tensionor, probably while your there. I don't feel like digging out receipts, seals are cheap, Tensionors are good, Stretched bolts are not. So... 500 should cover a new timing belt along with all the related stuff, all the fluids, all the mentioned seals. This is how I would approach it. I tend to cover all the bases while in the neighborhood. I like a clean driveway and not getting stranded

[cmdeshon]

i have done all of those with the drivetrain still in the car. front main and T-belt is a cakewalk. rear main is not too terrible. Oil pan is simply NOT WORTH DOING with the engine still in the car. it CAN be done, however there is so little room that you can accidentally smear your FIPG and ruin the new seal. Definitely pull your engine and get it re-sealed Right! i think $500 among Supra Friends should get the task done. personally id say beer AND pizza. really gets the masses out.

For the price they quoted you could buy all the parts needed and probably all of the tools (including a jack, hoist and engine stand) but thats all dependent on your confidence levels for diving in. if you are not comfortable doing it yourself and they are willing to warranty the work than $1600 is not bad.

Dont forget, you have to be a brave soul to warranty an "M" series engine from leaking.

DO NOT USE A CORKE STYLE OIL PAN GASKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i know Felpro makes one, not sure who else) DO NOT USE IT!!!!!! buy a tube of FIPG from toyota for likr $10. use about 3/4 if not the whole tube for your oil-pan.

[BigLos09]

paying almost 1500 for some seal replacements is seriously insane i would never pay even a quarter or that it took me a combined maybe 20 hours to pull my 5mge and replace all the seals on the vehicle and i am an amateur this is price gouging at its finest for that price you can look around and get a 5m with new transmission shipped.

[cmdeshon]

that list of work requires the engine to come out. the trans taken off. the bottom of the engine pulled apart and the front of the engine to be taken apart. i dont care how fast you can do it yourself, it is a LOT of work. keep in mind these are professional rates. i think its a pretty fair estimate honestly.

a master tech is worth $50 an hour. 50 x 20 = $1000. thats just labor. now factor in parts, shop supplies and Rent. No shit they arent going to do it for $500... that is a big task. i think the estimate is fair but its always worth getting a second, third, or fifth estimate when spending that kind of cheddar.

[Dylan_rose]

Thanks for all the input guys! So as fair or not fair as the estimate may be, i'm not about to pay 1600 to fix an engine. I'll save that kind of spending for when i'm ready to do a swap or a new engine entirely. I emailed Aaron (rabid chimp) about the parts yesterday. I prefer to go through him first cause he ships incredibly fast and he knows these engines inside and out.

As far as the labor, i've got a buddy who is pretty confident he can help me out. He's not a supra-guy but he's knowledgeable.

So some of you seem to think that it is absolutely necessary to pull the engine while others are saying all these parts can be replaced without pulling it. I would assume that pulling the engine would make the job easier, but can it be done without? I don't have the equipment here to pull it so that's a pretty important thing to factor in.

[rabidchimp.com]

The job can be done with the engine in the car, but I think I'd pull the thing. The oil pan job ain't like an oil pan on a jeep wrangler, where it just drops down with nothing in the way. Here's my quote, and I'd LOVE to do the work for you. Lol @ Matt, two cases of beer. HAH! My labor rate is $70 / hr
Water pump $58.02
Timing belt $37
Front crank seal $17.60
Rear main seal $6.90
Oil pump driveshaft seal $11.23
Cam seals $10
Valve cover gaskets $20.68
Shop supplies $12.50
Labor to replace valve cover gaskets $17,50
Labor to reseal oil pan $105
Labor to replace timing belt, water pump, and tensioner $70
Labor to replace cam, crank, and oil pump driveshaft seals $35
Labor to replace rear main seal $11.20
Labor to remove and reinstall engine for work $350

Total, with WA state sales tax @ 9.4% is $815.15. I"ve got Firestone beat by a mile.
If you want new coolant, oil, etc, it'll cost ya more. I highly advise that you have me replace the lower, rear timing cover gasket too. That'll be an additional $105 in labor, plus parts.
Cam tower seals might be leaking too. $140 labor plus parts to replace those.
-Aaron

[1982 Dragon]

^ Can you come up to Canada and do work for me? Lol. That is an awesome price Aaron. But there is always the idea of doing a swap now

[Rich64N]

+1 on Radidchimp's recommendation that you replace the lower timing case gasket (lower rear timing cover). I'd bet that is your leak, not the oil pan. You should put your hands on the bottom of your alternator. If they come back black, then your leak is coming from the front of the engine, not the oil pan. I've seen this misdiagnosed as the oil pan many times. If they do come back black, I also recommend you buy some Electro-motive cleaner (~$5) and spray the alternator to help keep it from failing.

While I could repair this without pulling the engine, I wouldn't. Way easier with the engine out, and takes less time. With the engine out, I'd also replace the suicide hose ($10), and maybe the fuel filter (if original).

GRRR, CS search function is dysfunctional, or I'd show you a picture.