I wanted to get a small oil leak fixed on my '95 f250 Heavy Duty and figured I would bring it to the local Ford Dealer to get fixed. I was shocked to see they wanted to charge $2100 to replace an oil pan gasket, air intake gasket and timing cover gasket. I crawled under the truck to look and there isn't a drop of oil above the oil pan. The engine block is totally clean and yet they wanted to do the gasket from the top of the engine.

Also, $2100? Are you kidding?

Am I missing something?

I was just wondering what others thought.

 

Well it isnt I particularly easy job because of that massive cross member under the engine. You have to un bolt the motor mounts remove the upper intake so you can jack the engine up high enough to reach in the oil pan to remove the oil pick up tube so you can remove the pan to clean off all the old gasked material. The timing cover is pleanty easy.

 

I should have realized there was more to it than dropping the oil pan out the bottom. At least now I know what they were talking about.

Thanks

 

You must have money to burn if you're taking a 15 year old truck to the dealership when any shop can do the same job for half the money.

 

Stealerships charge a pretty penny. I went to one that wanted to charge me $1200 to put on a brake booster and master cylinder. I spent $150 on parts and an hour of my time and was back on the road.

 

I appreciate the advice about the dealership. I just moved to a new city and wanted to make sure that I was getting things done right. The truck is newer to me and I didn't want a fly by night operation to do something stupid. I have replaced an oil pan gasket myself before, a loooooonnnng time ago so I figured how bad can it be. Even with the dealership doubling the price I figured it would be around $400 tops. I didn't realize all the extra work because of the cross member. So, now I have to decide if I want to try it myself or try to figure out who is good here.

P.S. How does one find a good mechanic shop in a new city?

Thanks again for the advice

 

Going to a dealership gives you absolutely zero guarantee of anything done right. They hire the same inept mechanics and service managers as other shops do, they simply charge more for it.

Replacing the oil pan gasket is, tops, a 90 minute job. Unbolt the pan, let it rest on the crossmember (you don't have to remove the pan like the dealership claims), pull the old gasket out and put the new one in.

If you need to find a good mechanic and don't know anyone in town, stop at a garage that has a couple other businesses around. Ask the neighbors what the word is on the reliability and honesty of that shop. If they're new, pass. But if they've been there even a year, the neighbors are going to have a fair idea of how they run their business. Word gets around.

Another good idea is to find a neighborhood bar and make friends with a few of the locals and ask. Even ask the bartender where to go, they talk to a lot of people and often have good information free for the asking.