Can They Wait? (Rear Main Seal, Transmission Mounts, Flex Disc)

[evertheoutsider]

Hey there,

Took my '92 e34 with 132k miles to my mechanic recently to get a general inspection done and he recommended the following work:

- Rear Main Seal
- Flex Disc
- Both Transmission Mounts

Other than a slight vibration at idle, I haven't noticed any major problems with the car or the way it drives. Are these "pressing" jobs that should be done immediately or can they wait?

Money's not really the issue, I'm just driving the car a lot these days and would prefer not to have it in the shop for an extended period.

[moroza]

RMS is a big job (4-7 hours) because the trans has to come out to reach the Main Seal at the Rear of the engine. It's an oil leak, nothing more, nothing less; on an automatic car, the only symptoms you'll notice are puddles and low oil level. On a manual car, they can ruin the clutch as well.

Flex disk will cause clunking noises when it gets bad enough. The exhaust has to be lowered and on a NY car that can be trouble (rust). Figure somewhere around 2 hours.

The trans mounts keep your transmission in place, and are very easy (0.5-1.0 hours of labor and $20-30 in parts) to change. That's the likely cause of your idle vibes.

None of these are terribly urgent, but why wait? The RMS job includes the labor of the other two; upon reassembly they'd just install new disk and mounts instead of reusing the old, so you're best off having all three done at once. Expect to pay RMS labor, ~10-20 for the seal itself, maybe also a trans input seal while they're in there, ~100 for a flex disk, and ~30 for trans mounts.

[evertheoutsider]

I appreciate the response, that's informative. I plan on doing the work ASAP, but I'm driving West soon and was just going to get the work done when I got to where I was going (Chicago or Minneapolis.) If the work could wait it'd be less of a pain for my trip is all.

[moroza]

Take it easy driving and I wouldn't worry about the disk and mounts, but oil leaks can sometimes suddenly worsen.

[bluptgm3]

Trans Mount is any easy DIY, the tranny/main seal are also but better done with a lift...and if an automatic, a transmission jack. Manual or Automatic? Leaking RMS will ruin an otherwise good clutch disk.


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[evertheoutsider]

Trans Mount is any easy DIY, the tranny/main seal are also but better done with a lift. Manual or Automatic? Leaking RMS will ruin an otherwise good clutch disk.


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Auto.

[moroza]

... the tranny/main seal are also [an easy DIY] but better done with a lift...

You're joking, right? That transmission weighs about 200#, uses special bolts to attach to the block, and takes a fully equipped shop (with not only a lift but a transmission jack) some 2-4 hours to remove.

[marshallnoise]

You're joking, right? That transmission weighs about 200#, uses special bolts to attach to the block, and takes a fully equipped shop (with not only a lift but a transmission jack) some 2-4 hours to remove.

Well, I wouldn't say easy DIY or incredibly complicated either. Head to Harbor Freight for the sockets; E10 and E12 I believe. I did it all on my back by myself. I put the tranny in under an hour yesterday morning. The worst part was the terror of being under a car on 4 jack stands.