but the car that I am looking at has a leak in the main rear seal. The dealer says the car runs right now but, before I start any serious talks about buying it, I would like an idea of how much it would cost to repair. Can anyone give me an idea on the cost?

 

If the seal is leaking I would rebuild it, cost would be dependent on your builder.

 

find another FD man the motor is toast on it. to replace that seal you have to rebuild the whole motor. if any seal goes you will have to rebuild the motor

 

You don't have to rebuild the engine to replace the rear main seal. However, it's not a cheap fix if you are paying for the labor. I would estimate around $350-450 for a shop to do it.

 

There is also the possibility that the O-ring on the rear stationary gear is also leaking.There is a TSB for the replacement of this O-ring and the rear seal.It is not too difficult if you have the tools to do it .The cost of parts is less than $30.I did it 3 months ago.

If all the other aspects of the car and motor are good,I say go for it.

 

you said the DEALER told you about the leak? car lot? tell them to repair the seal before you would be interested in the purchase, if they want to sell the car that shouldn't be an issue, they can just up the price a bit to cover the repair, while they have it in the shop request a compression test/coolant pressure test, probably not the easiest car for a lot to sell so they may be willing to deal a bit

 

a 94 or a 95 model year is something to be considered, they have a slightly better interior aswell as some other small improvements over the 93. the rear main seal is not a big deal, the engine will inevitably needed to be pulled and rebuilt anyway.

 

My first major dive into my 94 was replacing the rear main and stationary gear seal. It really was not that bad. Only time I needed help was getting the transmission out and the flywheel nut off. All in all it was well worth it. No more leaks for time being!!

 

Thanks guys. appreciate it.