4.6 Rear Main Bearing Leak

[Richard J. Parker]

My 92 TC has sprung a leak! Apparently it's the rear main bearing of the 4.6 engine. Does anyone know what that will cost at a decent mechanic? What's involved? Is it worth fixing on a $4k car?

[ October 29, 2001: Message edited by: Richard J. Parker ]

[RC]

The rear main on both my '88 and '90 TCs leaked as did the PS pump, other than spotting wherever you go, I didn't have any problem as a result of it.

I must say, my little '90 Continental never leaves a drop antwhere!

[Richard J. Parker]

Still wondering how much this job should cost?

[Lscman]

A rear main seal is a $250 job at a reasonable independent shop. It involves about 6 hours to R&R the tranny and yank the $10 seal. A national chain transmission shop or dealer can rip you for 3X that. I would only undertake such a job if the car was low miles or oil usage exceeded 1K miles per qt. Who cares about puddles, aside from the EPA and some _____ folks with beautiful, spotless driveways.

[Richard J. Parker]

I'd pay $250 to $500 to resolve the issue. It's leaking pretty bad now. I'd like to hold off on buying a new one until I can check out the 2003 cars. Otherwise I could buy a nice 96 or 97 TC or bite the bullet and sign on with a 98-2001. Unfortunately I like the Cadillacs with their Northstar and decent late model styling more than I crave a 2001 TC with it's same old 4.6! Plus my car has a nice interior with the Hanover cloth / Leather combo and has been paid off for years! A seal job sounds like one payment on a new car....

[pro-five-oh]

The seal is a minor job, once the tranny is out. My Cougar leaks about a dime's worth of oil if it sits for more than 2 days...not a big deal. But, I got a new rear main seal in 1999 when my tranny was rebuilt.

From what I have seen, replacing the seal may or may not completely fix the problem if the car has high mileage.

Good luck!

[Richard J. Parker]

The local Lincoln Mercury dealer wants $500 to do the seal. I wonder if I'd be better off having a transmission shop rebuild the AODe and change the seal for a few dollars more?

[ November 02, 2001: Message edited by: Richard J. Parker ]

[pro-five-oh]

The AOD rebuild is gonna be a LOT...probably $1000 more. I wouldn't do it unless you plan on making the car a "keeper" or if the tranny is slipping already.

I'd let a tranny shop to the seal replacement and maybe take a look at the AOD.

[Richard J. Parker]

Your right, the transmission shop wanted $1500 to $1800 to rebuild the thing along with replacing the seal. And the tranny works fine now. When they had it up, it looked like the major leak was coming from somewhere else close to the filter, oil sender or possibly the valve cover. But after they sprayed brake cleaner to remove the oil the darn thing stopped leaking, at least while it was on the rack. Must be a cold engine leak....

So I visited Bud Adam's LM used car lot. They have a 77k 97 Silver Cartier with every option including CD, phone and sunroof for $12k and a cream puff 95 Ivory Cartier with 53k with CD for $11.5. Humm....

[pro-five-oh]

Hmm, those sound nice.

Either way, I do not think you need to do anything to your current TC. Sounds like a fine old Lincoln to me. smile.gif