i hope this is my biggest problem because it's something i can ignore for a while on my "new" 93 300e-2.8. i had discovered that the tranny was replaced 20k miles ago and was further serviced because of a leaking rear seal. well, it's still leaking - i mean it's not like my garage is flooded but i just don't like oil on my garage floor. i know it's major work and i found a couple of threads talk about this so i'd like to find out what people have paid to get this done. from my search it sounds like i could be quoted a low of 600 to a dealer quote of 1500. i think this is typical of labor intensive jobs but i've seen that the tranny is not that hard to get at so hopefully it won't be that big a deal...

I would guess 7 or 8 hours labor.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

I'm sorry if I didn't read your post closely enough, but I never was clear whether you are talking about the rear engine seal or the rear transmission seal.

Have a great day,

where the engine meets the tranny is the main engine seal right? that's where it is - a common enough problem. are there any magic remedies out there like a special permatex sealer?

If you find a fix in a can for this, you will be lucky. The only way to know that it's fixed is to Rand R the transmission and replace the seal. 6 to 8 hours as Steve says. The necessary parts will be minimal.

Too bad it wasn't the rear seal of the transmission, that would be relatively simple and inexpensive.

Best of luck,

i didn't mean magic as in spray on, but permatex has some really good gasket solutions for problem spots. their formed gasket makers really do seal permanently. i realize it will have to come down but i just don't want it to happen again...

The permatex sealer would be used between the block and seal, and cap/oil pan and seal. This is not typically where the seal leaks. It typically leaks at the wear surface between seal and crankshaft. The only thing you want to use on the wear surface upon installation is oil.

Good luck,

aagghh, it's that seal? i had a vague notion that might be the case. is this common on a 104 engine? they put a new tranny on 2 yrs ago and reading the report it says that after installing the tranny there's an oil leak. the control pressure cable with vac actuator replaced and it also says they replaced the modulator valve. lots of mumbo-jumbo to me. not it's still leaking though, guess i have to go see that indy that some people have recommended here in NJ...

Among other things, be sure and verify that leak. I have seen leaks from the head or valve cover diagnosed as rear main oil seal leaks.

Rear main leaks are very rare on cars with less than 150k on them.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Yes, and also I wonder if it could be the front transmission seal. Is the oil on the garage floor red or brown?

Washing the engine thoroughly above and below would be very helpful in nailing down exactly where the leak is coming from.

Best of luck,

It is easy to make the engine rear main seal leak by overfilling the oil. If you purchase a new oil fill cap it has a warning written on it about overfilling.

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Jim

oh it's dirty brown oil - had a look underneath at the local jiffy lube where the boys wouldn't do any fluid change aside from the coolant. the mechs over there are sort of car enthusiasts with the managers owning german cars (would you believe). anyway we looked underneath and the bell housing bottom was coated back to the tranny pan. it looked like it was coming from the main seal. it's not a gusher yet but there's a 3 inch spot on the floor overnight.

i do hate overfills and keep an electric dispstick siphon from jc whitney handy to make sure that oil level is dead center of the fill range. so this won't be a problem going forward.

btw, please no flames but is it worth trying oil stop leak like STP or CD2 when i change the oil? those things are specifically targeted at older cars where the seals may have shrunk and do not contain solids ("will not harm your engine"). if it swells seals what adverse effect could it have on the rest of the engine?