Leaky front engine seals, oil trap..... $1900?

[mdewalle]

So I took my V70 in for an oil change and my mechanic told me I have the following issue:

"front engine seals leaking oil, oil trap does not appear to have been replaced yet".

I've had good experience with this guy working on this car for 2 years, but he quoted me $1900 for this. I did some research and $1900 *seems* high to me. It would include replacing the timing belt.

Any opinions on this quote? I was expecting max $1000.

This is a 2001 V70 2.4T, about 131K miles.

[vtl]

About day 6-8 hours of work if he's robust and $700 worth of parts for complete PCV kit and timing belt kit.

[vtl]

More work and parts if he needs to drop the oil pan.

[mdewalle]

Thanks VTL,

So I guess it could be $700 to $900 in parts, leaving $1000 for labor. And if it's an 8 hr job, it would be $125/hr. I'll look at some receipts from prior work to see what his hourly rate is, but that quote be correct (meaning fair).

There is another non-dealer Volvo place in town; maybe I'll call them and get a quote too.

Thanks for your help!

- marc

[vtl]

It took me about 5 evenings of work to change PCV and the front camshaft seals, but that's mainly because UPS could not deliver my camshaft locking tool during snowstorms. So while waiting I rebuilt alternator and injectors, carefully cleaned cooling system, washed intercooler, etc. When you have all the tools and past experience working in same engine area it can be done in a day, maybe slightly more.

[prwood]

A few random thoughts based on my limited, but in this case, fairly specific experience as a home mechanic.

I have a 2001 V70 2.4T. Having done both the timing belt and the oil trap jobs this summer (but not the oil seals, kicking myself now for not doing them at the time), I would say that the timing belt job is relatively simple but the oil trap job is pretty complex. The timing belt must be taken off to replace the front oil seals, so it's a no-brainer to replace the timing belt at that point, too. My price for parts was $150 for the timing belt kit and $225 for the PCV system kit (which includes the oil trap). Oil seals would be another $15 or so. So, around $400 for parts, in my case OE/OEM parts and not Genuine Volvo, which are more expensive. That being said, the mechanic has to make a profit, so they will add their own markup on top of that. In some cases I've seen a markup roughly double the price of parts. That might take you to $800 for parts.

I think vtl's labor estimate sounds about right for a professional mechanic with a complete set of tools and commercial grade workshop. The turbo model of the V70 requires a bit of extra labor due to having to deal with the extra parts involved in a turbo system, so that's something to keep in mind. Going rate for labor in my area is around $100/hr. So let's say $800 for labor.

Total based on the above would be around $1600. Add on if they're using more expensive parts, charging more than 2x markup, or charging more than $100/hr. Subtract if they have less than a 2x markup, do the job faster, use cheaper parts, or have a lower labor rate.

$1900 doesn't seem totally out of the question, but it wouldn't hurt to get a few other quotes.

[vtl]

Experience is crucial here. I've spent like 2 hours aligning VVT hubs, which you have to take off to get to the seals. Also my seals felt like they were welded to the head, spent too much time prying them out with a screwdriver, especially on exhaust side. So frustrating to see the seal FUBAR because of you yet still sitting firmly. That was it, I bought a real seal puller tool shortly after. Or a combination of my torque wrench and socket was too high to fit between engine and a body in exhaust camshaft area. Had to rise engine on that side. Every such moment sums up into extra hours, which, luckily, I haven't had to pay to someone else.

[mdewalle]

Thanks guys, that's all real helpful insight. I trust my guy and he hasn't tried to sell me on things if we could avoid them. Sounds like this might be a fair quote, but I will ask the other Volvo shop as well.

I've got about 130K on this V70 and I would like to keep it going. Maybe this is a worthwhile investment. What's the worst thing that could happen if I don't do the repair? Would I just burn through oil? Or are there greater risks?

[vtl]

Massive oil leak through the camshaft seals popped out, oil starved engine death in a few minutes.

[abscate]

Your mechanic should be close to retail for parts , making margin on the wholesale to retail

The labor hour at 100-125 is the shop profit.

I think that quote is way high. $400 retail for Volvo parts, 6 hours labour.