engine oil leak after tranny swap
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: San Jose, CA
engine oil leak after tranny swap
My '97 Civic HX with 100k miles got the infamous mainshaft bearing whine so I had the tranny swapped. While the tranny was out I had the input shaft and mainshaft bearings in the replacement tranny replaced, as well as the clutch, and as a "while you're in there", the rear main oil seal. I got a good price for the labor, about $300 + a spare non-VTEC engine (long story).
A few days later it leaked oil, so I went back and paid $200 labor for the oil pan gasket to be replaced. He showed me the old gasket, and indeed its rubber felt brittle and old.
A few days later, it leaked again, from a new spot. I took it back, thinking the oil pan job was botched, and the mechanic says it's the gasket of the "housing" thing around the oil seal, the irregular shaped thing in #7 in this pic:
http://www.slhondaparts.com/browse.a...com/br...=true
The mechanic said he tried tightening the bolts that hold it to the block by reaching in with some kind of makeshift wrench, and said the oil leak lessened but did not get eliminated. I asked him, why did he not replace the gasket of that housing thing when he replaced the main oil seal when the tranny was being replaced? His answer was that they normally never leak so he saw no reason to replace it while he was in there. He wants to charge me $300 again to pull the tranny and fix this leak.
I'm now averse to spending yet another $300 to get this leak fixed. I've pulled and replaced trannies before, but on rear wheel drive cars. I paid this shop to do my tranny replacement, because I was willing to pay at that time to not have to do it and get a decent warranty on the labor - that is, so *I* wouldn't have to do it twice if I screwed up. Now I'm kind of pissed that I paid money and have to pay again if I want this new leak fixed.
So my questions:
1) does the said gasket under the housing thing really spring leaks? Or is the rear main oil seal job botched? (replaced when the tranny was out)
2) How hard is it to pull a tranny on a Civic vs. a Miata?
A few days later it leaked oil, so I went back and paid $200 labor for the oil pan gasket to be replaced. He showed me the old gasket, and indeed its rubber felt brittle and old.
A few days later, it leaked again, from a new spot. I took it back, thinking the oil pan job was botched, and the mechanic says it's the gasket of the "housing" thing around the oil seal, the irregular shaped thing in #7 in this pic:
http://www.slhondaparts.com/browse.a...com/br...=true
The mechanic said he tried tightening the bolts that hold it to the block by reaching in with some kind of makeshift wrench, and said the oil leak lessened but did not get eliminated. I asked him, why did he not replace the gasket of that housing thing when he replaced the main oil seal when the tranny was being replaced? His answer was that they normally never leak so he saw no reason to replace it while he was in there. He wants to charge me $300 again to pull the tranny and fix this leak.
I'm now averse to spending yet another $300 to get this leak fixed. I've pulled and replaced trannies before, but on rear wheel drive cars. I paid this shop to do my tranny replacement, because I was willing to pay at that time to not have to do it and get a decent warranty on the labor - that is, so *I* wouldn't have to do it twice if I screwed up. Now I'm kind of pissed that I paid money and have to pay again if I want this new leak fixed.
So my questions:
1) does the said gasket under the housing thing really spring leaks? Or is the rear main oil seal job botched? (replaced when the tranny was out)
2) How hard is it to pull a tranny on a Civic vs. a Miata?
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 444
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From: Japan
your mechanic is incompetent. He should of done it right the first time. If he was really as experienced as he believed he was he would have anticipated where possible leaks would occur and taken measures to make sure it became resolved. Apparently your mechanic has never heard of Murphy`s Law...What ever can go wrong WILL...Its bad business for everyone to have to do thinkgs twice especially when it comes to tranny work. From the sound of it, he may have not properly sealed the mating surfaces around the areas of the rear main seal. The other thing that may have happened is the drive shaft seals could have been damaged during reassembly. Im not really sure about that though. Pulling a tranny is not that hard. But I would get a Helms manual before I started. Good luck
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 81
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Originally Posted by Jason C SBB
My '97 Civic HX with 100k miles got the infamous mainshaft bearing whine so I had the tranny swapped. While the tranny was out I had the input shaft and mainshaft bearings in the replacement tranny replaced, as well as the clutch, and as a "while you're in there", the rear main oil seal. I got a good price for the labor, about $300 + a spare non-VTEC engine (long story).
A few days later it leaked oil, so I went back and paid $200 labor for the oil pan gasket to be replaced. He showed me the old gasket, and indeed its rubber felt brittle and old.
A few days later, it leaked again, from a new spot. I took it back, thinking the oil pan job was botched, and the mechanic says it's the gasket of the "housing" thing around the oil seal, the irregular shaped thing in #7 in this pic:
http://www.slhondaparts.com/browse.a...com/br...=true
The mechanic said he tried tightening the bolts that hold it to the block by reaching in with some kind of makeshift wrench, and said the oil leak lessened but did not get eliminated. I asked him, why did he not replace the gasket of that housing thing when he replaced the main oil seal when the tranny was being replaced? His answer was that they normally never leak so he saw no reason to replace it while he was in there. He wants to charge me $300 again to pull the tranny and fix this leak.
I'm now averse to spending yet another $300 to get this leak fixed. I've pulled and replaced trannies before, but on rear wheel drive cars. I paid this shop to do my tranny replacement, because I was willing to pay at that time to not have to do it and get a decent warranty on the labor - that is, so *I* wouldn't have to do it twice if I screwed up. Now I'm kind of pissed that I paid money and have to pay again if I want this new leak fixed.
So my questions:
1) does the said gasket under the housing thing really spring leaks? Or is the rear main oil seal job botched? (replaced when the tranny was out)
2) How hard is it to pull a tranny on a Civic vs. a Miata?
A few days later it leaked oil, so I went back and paid $200 labor for the oil pan gasket to be replaced. He showed me the old gasket, and indeed its rubber felt brittle and old.
A few days later, it leaked again, from a new spot. I took it back, thinking the oil pan job was botched, and the mechanic says it's the gasket of the "housing" thing around the oil seal, the irregular shaped thing in #7 in this pic:
http://www.slhondaparts.com/browse.a...com/br...=true
The mechanic said he tried tightening the bolts that hold it to the block by reaching in with some kind of makeshift wrench, and said the oil leak lessened but did not get eliminated. I asked him, why did he not replace the gasket of that housing thing when he replaced the main oil seal when the tranny was being replaced? His answer was that they normally never leak so he saw no reason to replace it while he was in there. He wants to charge me $300 again to pull the tranny and fix this leak.
I'm now averse to spending yet another $300 to get this leak fixed. I've pulled and replaced trannies before, but on rear wheel drive cars. I paid this shop to do my tranny replacement, because I was willing to pay at that time to not have to do it and get a decent warranty on the labor - that is, so *I* wouldn't have to do it twice if I screwed up. Now I'm kind of pissed that I paid money and have to pay again if I want this new leak fixed.
So my questions:
1) does the said gasket under the housing thing really spring leaks? Or is the rear main oil seal job botched? (replaced when the tranny was out)
2) How hard is it to pull a tranny on a Civic vs. a Miata?
It seems that I have that same leak, I look under the engine but don't see anything and I was thinking it could be that. I just pu tmy engine together and it has maybe 40 miles on it now. I should have double checked everything before putting the tranny on. Today is the first day I drove my car after the engine swap. I put a B18B1 with aftermarket internals in a hatch. It's just gonna take me a couple hours to take the tranny down and fix the leak, but it has to be done.