Well, fair question. My principal purpose in posting was to verify that his diagnosis was reasonable. And I believe that it is. I will take smaller jobs to a mechanic without a "second opinion" but when there's an $800 price tag associated with the job, I want to understand what's involved and whether it needs to be done. Now I know. Thanks alot!

 

$800 to remove a manual transmission and replace the freeze plugs is very excessive. are you sure that wasn't the estimate for clutch too ? anybody got a flat rate on that ? i'd guess 4-5 hours at the most.

if you're going to keep the truck, definitely put in a new clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing, inspect flywheel (and possibly reface) while you're there. clutch parts would run the bill up some, i'd guess another $100 in parts. plus flywheel turn.

 

+1, it's way easier to do a manual.

 

For future reference, don't use tap water anymore, this in itself causes corrosion.
If you must use water, use distilled, along with the proper amount of anti freeze.

 

Now I'm questioning the wisdom of not doing it myself. Like I said, if I had more time, I'd be more inclined. Thanks for the estimate of time involved, and also the suggestion on using distilled water vs. tap. We have hard water around here.

 

If you do have him do it, make him replace all of the freeze plugs back there. And ask him to use brass plugs. They aren't as susceptible to electrolysis.

 

96 Ram 1500 4x4 5.2 Auto 106K. There is a small coolant leak low on the engine. Seems like its coming from behind the motor mount on the drivers side. I'm guessing freeze plug. How do I support the engine while removing the mount? Oil pan?. How do I remove the old freeze plug (I'm picturing a corkscrew like tool). How do I install the new plug (tap in with hammer?).

Thanks for any advice.

 

You might want to read back through this related thread where I moved your post to.

 

I did - no info

 

To remove the old one, tap one side of it and it will twist, then you can pull it out with vise grips or whatever. To support the motor use a jack and a piece of wood like 2x4 cut to length and support motor where the bolts go into pan, do not support the motor using the bottom of the pan itself. To reinstall plug, you can use a socket of the same size to tap it in.