Ok so today we took my wife 2004 neon with 57950 miles on it into the stealership because it had a code p700 i know it is generic code tranny, they just called me and said it was a tranny sensor and that i had the rear main seal leaking bad. I told them to go ahead and fix the sensor since i already was going to have to pay the 95 plus tax for the diagnostics and my total came to 230 is that about the normal cost off this kinda work and my next one is how hard is it to change the rear main seal i usually try to do all the work on my cars myself but had to get it diagnosed to find out what was wrong could napa, autozone, or orielys computers been able to tell me what the dodge stores computer told me because they told me that theres was the only one that could tell me that kinda info any help much appreciated

 

You were probably charged 1 to 1 1/2 hours of labor (should be on your receipt) which I believe the current going rate for labor at dealerships is about $110 per hour - some charge more, some less.

The labor + part(s) + shop supplies + taxes on parts - a slight discount for the diagnotic fee (as you had them do the work and they may have rolled most of that cost into the labor) would most likely be about $230 as you paid. Again, this is at a dealership and there is no such thing as cheap at those places.


Rear Main engine seal. Difficult unless you have the skills, a good place to do the work, and the tools. The easiest way to do the job is to completely remove the tranny so that you have room to work. To remove the tranny, you must remove both drive shafts which in itself is a lot of work. You must also remove the starter, battery, battery box, and shift a lot of wiring harnesses around and to do that, you really need to disconnect them too. Some folks say you have to remove the radiator to get the starter out, but I have been successfull with just removing the fan to give me enough room to work.

I have heard that you can unbolt the tranny from the block and shift it back enough to remove the torque converter and then remove the tranny bell house which will give you barely enough room to do the job without having to remove the tranny or take off the drive shafts. You could certainly try that and see if it is doable for you, but I don't know personally if it will work.

Here is my question to you. Have you had to put a lot of oil into your car in between oil changes? In other words, how often do you have to put in a quart of oil? If you only have to put in 1 quart of oil or less between oil changes, then I would not bother.
If you have to go 2 quarts or more, then it needs to be done.

Remember, the dealership is trying to sell you services and generate revenue. They saw some oil on the backside of your engine by the tranny and said - rear main leak - cha ching! They cannot see the rear main seal anymore than you can unless they ran a scope down inside the tranny housing to get a better look and I can almost guarantee they did not do that. Now they may indeed be correct and you have a rear main oil leak. Again, if it isn't bad, don't worry about it - just check the oil regularly and top it up as needed. When it gets to leaking bad, then consider it.

 

i haven't had to put an oil in yet and it has not been leaking on the garage floor but he said it would blow all at once is this true on not thats why i didn't have him do it no it sounds like they are making up work to me Thank you

 

He is blowing smoke completely up your wazoo! Blowing out suddenly? Whatta load! The only way that usually happens if your oil pressure were to suddenly jump due to some blockage of some kind and the pressure exceeded the seals ability to hold it back That, or you dog the motor to the point of failure, fill it up with waaaay too much oil, etc. etc. 99% of the time, the seals slowly lose the ability to form a tight "seal" against the crank (age, stiffening, cracks, etc) and oil begins to seep out a little more each time until yes, it "suddenly" starts spewing a lot quickly.....However, this "sudden" spewing is detected by checking the oil and having to put more in between changes and noticing that you have to put more oil in more often and also by seeing oil and gunk building up around the bottom edge of the motor/tranny area and on the floor of your garage.

I would find a different dealership to go, or better stiill, find out which mechanic(s) the local parts store guy(s) in your area they like or would work with. Usually you will find that when you ask these guys, you will hear the same name/place mentioned over and over.

Good luck. I would never let that dealership see anything from me again except the *** end of my car moving away......