Do transmissions give warning before they die and rear main seal question?

[Chris B.]

My rear main seal is leaking a bit of oil in my 1997 Chevy Tahoe. I'm thinking of fixing it. The transmission shifts like it did new and seems to be doing great at 115,000 miles. The shop I use and trust said it will cost aprox $740,00 to fix the rear main leak. They said I might want to reconsider this and put the $$$ into a new transmission because if my current transmission dies soon then the $740.00 I just put into the rear main would have been a waste as then I would have to redo the whole thing over again.

The transmission seems great and has never givin me trouble ever. Should I just fix the rear main seal and cross my fingers the transmission does not die on me any time soon?
Thank you!!!

 

[porcupine73]

How much do they want for a new transmission?

 

[Bret Chase]

if it was me, I'd roll the dice on the trans, because I know *I* don't have the extra $$ lying around to spend rebuilding a fully functioning transmission.

 

[Chris B.]

They want between $1,800 and $2,500....does that sound high? They have always done me right.

 

[porcupine73]

I think they may be sort of covering their butts. I mean if you spend all this cash on a new rear main seal and then the transmission starts acting up, which I mean we have to admit it's no spring chicken, then they look bad.

I'm not familiar with your model trans, maybe others can say if there's any common issues with it or if its solid as a rock. I'd have trouble coughing up that kind of cash to replace or rebuild a good trans though.

 

[JTK]

The RMS doesn't have anything to do with the trans other than the labor overlap associated with the RMS R/R. Exhaust may have to be pulled, x-member pulled, trans dropped, etc. 4L60E's can push 200Kmi. I wouldn't sweat it unless it was acting up.

G/luck
Joel

 

[The Critic]

How often have you serviced it in the past? Have you changed the fluid at least every 30,000 miles and the filter every 90,000 miles?

I would try some Auto-RX on the transmission to see if it'll resolve the problem. If that doesn't work, I'd just wait it out.

Wait until 150K-180K before rebuilding the transmission.

 

[Chris B.]

Transmission has been maintained well. Fluid and filter change at 85,000 miles and 100% flush at 100,000 miles. I bleieve once before 85,000 miles as well. Always has shifted super smooth and has been strong.

 

[chas3]

if you have a leaking rear main seal, the auto-rx would go in the engine oil.

if you dont have any transmission trouble why ask for any with a rebuild? try the auto-rx first, and if that doesnt work, see if you can live with the leaking rear main seal. think of it as rust protection.

 

[jeepzj]

quote:

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Originally posted by chas3:
if you have a leaking rear main seal, the auto-rx would go in the engine oil.

if you dont have any transmission trouble why ask for any with a rebuild? try the auto-rx first, and if that doesnt work, see if you can live with the leaking rear main seal. think of it as rust protection.

---

I agree with chas3. You say your transmission is ok so leave it alone. I own a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee and had a rear main seal leak which started at 75K miles. Used Auto-rx in the engine oil (follow seal directions on auto-rx.com) and the leak is gone. I continue to use non-synthetic oil (Havoline 10w30) and currently have 108K miles. A friend of mine was in the exact same situation as me. His RMS leak was gone after using auto-rx. He decided to switch back to synthetic oil and his RMS started leaking a bit again after a few thousand miles. Just so you know, the autorx site says to stick with non-synthetic oil after you perform the seal leak procedure...in case you go that route.

Hope this helps.

 

[rpn453]

Is this the rear main on the engine that's leaking? I wouldn't touch the transmission if that's the case.

How much is it leaking? If I could easily keep up with the leak, I wouldn't bother fixing the seal.

 

[eljefino]

I would rather have a factory built transmission that I know and has treated me well than one that's been rebuilt in a dusty shop.

Consider a non-dealer chevy specialist or even regular mechanic out in the country?

 

[pbm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Wan:
How often have you serviced it in the past? Have you changed the fluid at least every 30,000 miles and the filter every 90,000 miles?

I would try some Auto-RX on the transmission to see if it'll resolve the problem. If that doesn't work, I'd just wait it out.

Wait until 150K-180K before rebuilding the transmission.

---

I agree with MW. Are you leaking motor oil or ATF? If your leaking motor oil as I think you are then I would try the Auto-RX. In either case I wouldn't pay to rebuild a good working transmission until its needed.

 

[Gary Allan]

That's a whole lot of labor for a rear main seal. That's over 7 hrs @ $100/hr. No way can it take that long with someone taking all day. It's just not so. He may (probably) have to drop some exhaust piece ..remove a cross member .. even if it's a AWD/4WD ..there's no divocing of the TC ..or anything fancy.


That's a bit much if you ask me.

It sounds like a quote you give when you don't want to do the job.

 

[Chris B.]

Thanks again for the input guys! I did an Auto-Rx at 100,000 miles. Ran it for 1,700 miles. Should I do it again in hopes it stops the rear main leak?

 

[Shaman]

arx needs 2 phases at 100K