Rear main seal repaired...comments sought on repair

[accentstencil]

Have you removed that little inspection plate to see if it is all oily in there? It looks to me like the leak is on the outside somewhere.

 

[yabbadabba]

Hi accentstencil the mechanic pulled a plate off when it was on the lift but the only source he showed me was at the back of the engine passenger side with a mirror and it was a dried spot of oil the size of a 50 cent coin. He told me that the wind can blow the oil backwards on to the rear main. So I assume that was the plate you refer too, however unsure.

My main concern is that for the money spent on the roadworthy which was 2 thousand odd that the work would have been performed to at least a basic standard. I have spoken to a lot of people at Holden and the overwhelming consensus is that the job was not performed correctly by any stretch.

I guess people can say the oil might be coming from here or coming from there, however the point remains that the job was not completed to a satisfactory standard.

If the business concerned at least fitted a gasket then they would be able to say it could be coming from other areas and realistically I wouldn't have a leg to stand on, however that option is not available to them because they didn't do the job correctly.

As i said I am not a mechanic, however i'm pretty sure re-using a 17 year old gasket would not be the industry standard.

Cheers for all the comments guy's they are much appreciated.

 

[Turtl3]

Some gaskets can be reused...rubber and cork mainly...aslong as they arent torn or missing chunks or anything like that, but a sump gasket(even cork and rubber typres) should always be replaced. They compress and stretch outwards and dont seal correctly. Tell them they need to fix it within a certain time frame (before the 2 months) or refund u on the job due to their incompetence.

 

[vc commodore]

The first thing you need to do is get an independant mechanic to correctly identify where the leak is actually coming from, rather than everyone making an assumption as to where it is coming from.....Once that independant mechanic has determined the source, GET IT IN WRITING. IF it is from the rear main seal or sump, then find out whether the original place want to repair it properly, or what you to take it to consumer affairs.

IF you have to go to consumer affairs, make sure you have all the receipts for the work originally performed, as well as the independant mechanics report

 

[yabbadabba]

I wrote to the company involved yesterday advising them they have 7 days to provide a full refund on the rear main seal component for the roadworthy otherwise I will be going to QCAT.

They haven't responded yet, and don't really expect them to as there approach would be one of a watch and wait, acting like most businesses do in that type of position in that nothing is to be lost in waiting for the documents to arrive, expecting the claimant to come to the realisation that there is to much paperwork involved let alone time.

One things for sure they are not getting another chance at touching my car, one could only imagine the care factor that a business would take.

The thing that gets me is that i crawled under the car with a high powered torch and looked at where this old guy parked his car and there wasn't even a drop on the concrete. The guy I bought it off lives in a retirement village and he was very, lets say pedantic where we could park our car just to look at his in that he didn't want us even slightly on the road/driveway blocking his fellow neighbours, and where we initially parked there was heaps of room to get by. If his car was dropping what I'm waking up to in the morning this guy would have been a nervous wreck with the oil on his nice driveway for his neighbours to see, and i say that in a good way if you know what i mean.

 

[oska]

Most mechanics will always rip off young people as they don't know any better

you sound like a young person and you are expecting a lot from an old car

good luck and put it down to a lesson learnt

 

[amg]

To be fair the ol' coot may have just use his commy for gentle shop runs, and the seal unfortunately failed when it entered your enthusiastic hands.

My rear seal failed when my VT was 2 years old, it dumped all its tranny oil on the kerb in Lygon St. Being under warranty it was repaired by a very competent mechanic in the dealers work shop the same evening and I had the vehicle back the next morning. The same seal has run for 14 years without any issues with the same nut behind the wheel.

In fact I reckon the notorious VT diff backlash thump is murder on them seals and the cause for their premature failure.

 

[Turtl3]

To be fair the ol' coot may have just use his commy for gentle shop runs, and the seal unfortunately failed when it entered your enthusiastic hands.

My rear seal failed when my VT was 2 years old, it dumped all its tranny oil on the kerb in Lygon St. Being under warranty it was repaired by a very competent mechanic in the dealers work shop the same evening and I had the vehicle back the next morning. The same seal has run for 14 years without any issues with the same nut behind the wheel.

In fact I reckon the notorious VT diff backlash thump is murder on them seals and the cause for their premature failure.

1. putting ur foot down in any car wont cause the rear main to suddenly leak/blow out, unless ofcourse the seal was already completely disintegrated to such a point that upon accelerating harder than the "ol' coot" would have...the oil sloshed backwards-and out of the poofteenth" gap that the rear main seal, actually seals

2. if ur rear main seal failed after 2 years...considering ur explanation for why yabbadabba's seal has failed(enthusiastic driving)---u must drive like a complete ef-whit

3.the rear main seal has nothing to do with transmission fluid...its the rearward-most, and lowest, 'main' seal of the ENGINE which prevents ENGINE oil from leaking out of the REAR of the ENGINE...hence the name 'rear main'. even if the rear main was completely blown, it would not effect the transmission fluid in any way, shape or form. all of the main bearings around and along the crank (which is what the rear main seals against) would still hold the crank straight and true...preventing any sort of domino effect on the torque converter or input shaft which could cause a transmission leak....IF the rear main seal actually had any impact on the transmissions structural integrity (which it doesnt)

4. one would hope- considering ur cars rear main failed @ under 2 years old, and given that it was covered by new car manufacturers warranty...that it went back to a holden dealership, which only employed competent mechanics...otherwise you would be in the same boat as yabbadabba lol.

5. i have never heard of this notorious 'VT diff backlash thump' that u speak of...and i refer back to #1. how could/would a diff thump have any impact on a rear main seal...the thump would get dispersed through suspension, bushes, tailshaft unis, the transmission....and it would stop there. please explain how it would have an effect on the rear main?

 

[vc commodore]

I wrote to the company involved yesterday advising them they have 7 days to provide a full refund on the rear main seal component for the roadworthy otherwise I will be going to QCAT.

They haven't responded yet, and don't really expect them to as there approach would be one of a watch and wait, acting like most businesses do in that type of position in that nothing is to be lost in waiting for the documents to arrive, expecting the claimant to come to the realisation that there is to much paperwork involved let alone time.

One things for sure they are not getting another chance at touching my car, one could only imagine the care factor that a business would take.

The thing that gets me is that i crawled under the car with a high powered torch and looked at where this old guy parked his car and there wasn't even a drop on the concrete. The guy I bought it off lives in a retirement village and he was very, lets say pedantic where we could park our car just to look at his in that he didn't want us even slightly on the road/driveway blocking his fellow neighbours, and where we initially parked there was heaps of room to get by. If his car was dropping what I'm waking up to in the morning this guy would have been a nervous wreck with the oil on his nice driveway for his neighbours to see, and i say that in a good way if you know what i mean.

That's fair enough that you wouldn't want them to touch your car again, BUT you still need to have a report by another mechanic stipulating where the leak is from.....So far we can only assume that it is from the rear main....And you know what the meaning of assumption is....

Choice is yours from here

 

[amg]

please explain how it would have an effect on the rear main?

For some reason I was thinking of the rear tailshaft seal not the rear main seal.

Thanks for going to the effort turtl3, ha!