Problem with local shop

Rex2022

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Location
Peoria, AZ
I asked a local shop to replace the rear main seal (RMS) and the oil pan gasket since both were leaking. The RMS is still leaking after the shop replaced it, but that’s another story. There’s something that has troubled me about the work they did on the oil pan gasket. Apparently, the shop ran out of RTV Ultra Red and decided to use anaerobic gasket maker, which only cures in the absence of oxygen. The color is candy apple and can be seen in the pictures as opposed to the oranger color of Ultra Red that it’s mixed in with. I’ve taken my finger and scraped off some of it. It’s just sitting there in its goo-ish form collecting road debris. It looks like about a 30% of the gasket is coated with this stuff.

My understanding is that when anaerobic gasket maker does cure it dries hard unlike the RTV that dries in a rubber-ish form. I point this out because it's possible that perhaps some of the anaerobic gasket maker cured under the surface areas between the gasket and the pan lip and engine block.

Was it appropriate for the shop to use the anaerobic gasket maker to seal the oil pan? If not, why not?

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First off this is one of those times I would say you should have done it yourself. You could have taken the time to clean the old grease off the pan and made sure to use the proper gasket.

I'm having trouble seeing if they even used a gasket or just globbed on multiple flavors of sealant? I have always used a quality gasket only using sealant in the areas described in the shop manual.

I would at least talk to the shop so there was a record of being unhappy with the repair process.
 
First off this is one of those times I would say you should have done it yourself. You could have taken the time to clean the old grease off the pan and made sure to use the proper gasket.

I'm having trouble seeing if they even used a gasket or just globbed on multiple flavors of sealant? I have always used a quality gasket only using sealant in the areas described in the shop manual.

I would at least talk to the shop so there was a record of being unhappy with the repair process.

The shop used a FEL-PRO OS 34308 R Oil Pan Gasket.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C2AMQ8/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
Time to stop going to that shop and time to give them a bad review on Yelp for shoddy work.

The RMS is leaking too after he put a new RMS seal in. I confronted the guy about this and he said it's not from his work. It is! He went on to say that if the RMS failed then the bell housing would be gushing out oil, not just dripping. That's simply not true. I also checked the rear valve cover gasket where oil could leak down to the bell housing and it's dry. I put in a valve cover gasket myself a few months ago. I just didn't feel like doing the oil pan gasket and RMS.

I spoke to the guy at the shop yesterday morning and he said he would call me back regarding all of this later in the day. He has not called me back yet.

I'm thinking about just eating this cost and taking it to another shop to re-do the work. The other shop said they could do it for $675 (replace oil pan gasket and RMS). I hate to do, but I'm tired of dealing with this shop.

The drip on the floor was from the Jeep parked overnight.


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I did my RMS four times before I discovered that Felpro RMS are junk and Mopar works...and red loctite on the bearing between the top and bottom.

Doing my own work I was able to replace my oil pump, discovered my timing chain was loose and clean up the pan and everything else that was a complete mess under the engine.

Also...valve cover seals sometimes identify as RMS leaks...oil leaks on 4.0 the recommendation is to start at the top and work down.

-Mac
 
The RMS is leaking too after he put a new RMS seal in. I confronted the guy about this and he said it's not from his work. It is! He went on to say that if the RMS failed then the bell housing would be gushing out oil, not just dripping. That's simply not true. I also checked the rear valve cover gasket where oil could leak down to the bell housing and it's dry. I put in a valve cover gasket myself a few months ago. I just didn't feel like doing the oil pan gasket and RMS.

I spoke to the guy at the shop yesterday morning and he said he would call me back regarding all of this later in the day. He has not called me back yet.

I'm thinking about just eating this cost and taking it to another shop to re-do the work. The other shop said they could do it for $675 (replace oil pan gasket and RMS). I hate to do, but I'm tired of dealing with this shop.

The drip on the floor was from the Jeep parked overnight.


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The "mechanic" is an idiot. Smearing anaerobic sealant on the pan rail was the easiest sign. Go above his head if you pursue it. There is nothing coming out of his mouth that will be of value.

I wouldn't let them do any more work regardless
 
I contact another shop that was highly recommended on Tuesday, Frank’s Automotive. I drove the Jeep to the shop and spoke to Mike, the manager. I told him that the RMS is leaking and gave him a rundown on what happened with the first shop. He quoted me $675 to replace the RMS and oil pan gasket. We agreed that they would use a Fel-Pro oil pan gasket and a Mopar RMS. I scheduled the repairs for yesterday morning.

I dropped off the Jeep at 9am yesterday and received a call at 11am from Mike. Mike stated that the first shop had used so much RTV that he would have to add in time on the estimate to clean it all off. He also said that the RMS and the impute seal the trans was leaking. Remember, I had paid the first shop to replace both seals. More time and money were now added to the estimate. Mike said they will use a National seal for the impute trans seal. He stated that when the first shop pulled the impute trans seal they gouged the seal seating surface with probably a screw driver (see the attached pic). They finished the job today and it costs me $1,004 for the work.

I had requested that Mike text me pictures of the oil pan and the front of the trans. In the pics you can see multi kinds of RTV on the oil pain seal.

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BTW, I had spoke to Al (manager, head mechanic, co-owner) from the first shop on Tuesday. It didn't go well. Initially on the call he agreed with me about the RMS is still leaking, I had sent him my pics like I did on this thread (my first pictures). He continued to say that he did everything by the book (he didn’t) and that he wasn’t sure how he could help me further. At no time did he offer to pay me back on what I had paid him. I then told him that I would no longer be doing business with his shop, will take the Jeep elsewhere, and will post negative reviews. He exploded and then started berating me. I told him “good day” and disconnected the line. The conversation continued by text, and it didn’t get any better. He continued to berate me. I have not sent him the pictures yet of what the second shop took (the second set off pictures I just posted to this thread). I’m not sure I will send him the pics. Maybe It’s better if I just let it go. My blood pressure doesn’t need to be any higher than what it is.
 
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BTW, I had spoke to Al (manager, head mechanic, co-owner) from the first shop on Tuesday. It didn't go well. Initially on the call he agreed with me about the RMS is still leaking, I had sent him my pics like I did on this thread (my first pictures). He continued to say that he did everything by the book (he didn’t) and that he wasn’t sure how he could help me further. At no time did he offer to pay me back on what I had paid him. I then told him that I would no longer be doing business with his shop, will take the Jeep elsewhere, and will post negative reviews. He exploded and then started berating me. I told him “good day” and disconnected the line. The conversation continued by text, and it didn’t get any better. He continued to berate me. I have not sent him the pictures yet of what the second shop took (the second set off pictures I just posted to this thread). I’m not sure I will send him the pics. Maybe It’s better if I just let it go. My blood pressure doesn’t need to be any higher than what it is.

As Jerry suggested, write a detailed negative review on Yelp (I would do a Google review, too). Include the part where you tried to reason with the owner/manager and he went ape shit on you. Make HIS blood pressure go through the roof. Then move on and enjoy your (leak free) ride.
 
BTW, I had spoke to Al (manager, head mechanic, co-owner) from the first shop on Tuesday. It didn't go well. Initially on the call he agreed with me about the RMS is still leaking, I had sent him my pics like I did on this thread (my first pictures). He continued to say that he did everything by the book (he didn’t) and that he wasn’t sure how he could help me further. At no time did he offer to pay me back on what I had paid him. I then told him that I would no longer be doing business with his shop, will take the Jeep elsewhere, and will post negative reviews. He exploded and then started berating me. I told him “good day” and disconnected the line. The conversation continued by text, and it didn’t get any better. He continued to berate me. I have not sent him the pictures yet of what the second shop took (the second set off pictures I just posted to this thread). I’m not sure I will send him the pics. Maybe It’s better if I just let it go. My blood pressure doesn’t need to be any higher than what it is.

Let it go, but give them bad reviews wherever you can. Include pictures wherever possible. That always drives home the point of shoddy work!
 
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First off this is one of those times I would say you should have done it yourself. You could have taken the time to clean the old grease off the pan and made sure to use the proper gasket.

I'm having trouble seeing if they even used a gasket or just globbed on multiple flavors of sealant? I have always used a quality gasket only using sealant in the areas described in the shop manual.

I would at least talk to the shop so there was a record of being unhappy with the repair process.

Any shop that uses gasket sealer, gasket maker, or RTV of any flavor other than at the 4 small spots at the corners of the pan gasket is not to be trusted. That is something amateurs do that have no clue what they are doing. If you coat the whole gasket like the pics show, you simply don't know what you are doing and no one should pay for that.

Idiots.
 
The guy at the shop just argued with me and said more RTV wouldn't hurt anything.
That isn't true, at all. Adding RTV to places it doesn't belong actually lubes the gasket face and allows it to dislocate from its proper location when the pan is bolted in place. This is clearly a case of if a little is good, more is never better.
 
I'd consider trying to cancel the charge on your credit card since they didn't fix the problem you brought it to them for.

In CA you can not legally do that. You have to pay for the repair in full and then take them to small claims to recover your funds. If you file a charge back, cancel a check or similar, it is automatic defrauding of the shop and you lose in court no matter how crappy their work is.