Shops quote $2,500–$3,500 for this one, and the quote usually isn't the ripoff, the job really is that big. Here's what's actually failing, what the correct repair involves, and the honest part: this is not a job I do in a driveway.
The 2011–2017 Coyote V8 uses a two-piece rear main seal where the crankshaft exits the back of the block. Two-piece designs have a built-in weakness, the seam, and with years of heat cycles the seal hardens and starts weeping oil right at the junction between engine and transmission. Heat accelerates it: the drip is worst after a long highway run or towing, when everything back there is fully heat-soaked.
The leak's location is what makes this a big job. The seal hides behind the flexplate or flywheel, which hides behind the transmission, so the transmission has to come out for access. That's the bulk of the roughly eleven hours of labour, and it's why a part that costs comparatively little carries a four-figure repair bill anywhere you take it.
It's also why the oil pan gasket belongs in the same job: it's the other common Coyote weep point, it's vastly easier to do with everything already apart, and skipping it risks watching a fresh drip appear a month after paying for the rear main.
If your Ford is doing any of these, this is the likely cause:
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See how that range compares across Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Brampton and Etobicoke in the GTA Repair Price Index, honest shop & dealer ranges for the jobs people actually get done.
Rear Main Seal & Oil Pan Gasket Replacement is on my published list of jobs I turn down. It needs a hoist, a press or a machine shop, and I work out of driveways with hand tools. That list is public on my trust page. I'd rather lose the job than learn it on your engine, and you should be suspicious of anyone who says yes to this over the phone.
So here's what I can genuinely do for you, holding a $2,500–$3,500 quote. Both are real, both are flat-priced, and both are worth more than a bad yes.
Before you spend $2,500–$3,500, have someone independent confirm that's actually what's wrong. This is a diagnosis, not the repair, no hoist, no lift, nothing comes apart. I scan it, test it, look at it with you, and tell you straight whether their diagnosis holds up. If it does, I say so and you go pay them with confidence.
Book the second opinion →At $2,500–$3,500 on a car that might be worth not much more, plenty of people replace instead of repair, that's a completely reasonable call. If that's where you're heading, get the next car measured before you hand over money: 150 published points, at the seller's location, written report the same day.
Book a pre-purchase inspection →Tell me what you've been quoted and what the car is doing. $100–$250 flat, at your location, and you get a straight answer either way.
Rather just have the quote read? The free quote check tells you whether the number is in line, no visit needed.
Jobs on this car that ARE mine:
Not so you can do it yourself, so you can tell whether the shop quoting you understands the job:
That's the job. It's why this one belongs on a hoist instead of in a driveway, and it's why $2,500–$3,500 usually isn't a ripoff, it's a big repair honestly priced. What's worth checking is whether that's really what your car needs.
Get the diagnosis confirmed firstPlain version: Rear Main Seal & Oil Pan Gasket Replacement needs equipment a driveway doesn't have, a hoist to get under it properly, a press or a machine shop for the parts that come out, and a controlled space for an engine or gearbox that's in pieces for days. I work out of driveways with hand tools. That's not false modesty, it's the published limit of what I take on, and it's listed on my trust page alongside the warranty.
What that means for you: this page is here to tell you what's failing and what it should cost, so you walk into a shop knowing the job instead of nodding at a number. And if you want that number checked before you pay it, that part I can do, $100–$250 flat, at your location.
A rear main weep rarely strands you, but it never stays a weep. The seal keeps hardening, oil keeps finding the clutch or coating the underbody, and oil level discipline becomes your problem every week. Mechanically the real cost of waiting is oil on a clutch (manual cars) or an engine run low by a distracted week. Fix it once, properly, with the pan gasket, then stop thinking about it.
Yes, with a transmission jack, supports and a level driveway, transmission R&R is established mobile work. It's most of a day and we treat it with the care it deserves. The alternative is towing your vehicle to a shop and waiting for bay time; instead, we come to you.
Because it's the other known weep point on these engines and it's dramatically easier with the teardown already done. Fixing the rear main and leaving an aging pan gasket invites a second leak, and a second bill, within months. The smart version of this job does both in one pass.
Location and confirmation. Oil at the engine-transmission junction points to the rear main, but valve cover and pan leaks can run back and mimic it. We degrease, dye-test or UV-check as needed and trace the leak to its true source before quoting, nobody should pay for a transmission-out job to fix a valve cover.
No. Rear Main Seal & Oil Pan Gasket Replacement is on my published list of jobs I turn down, it needs a hoist, a press or a machine shop, and I work out of driveways with hand tools. I'd rather lose the job than learn it on your engine.
Two things, and both are real. A second-opinion diagnostic at your car, $100–$250 flat, at your location, so somebody independent confirms that's actually what's wrong before you commit to a $2,500–$3,500 repair. And if you're weighing replacing the car instead of fixing it, a pre-purchase inspection on the replacement, $149–$399 flat, at the seller's location.
Because the useful part isn't the wrench. It's knowing what's actually failing, what the correct repair involves, and that shops quote $2,500–$3,500 for it, so you walk in knowing the job instead of nodding at a number. If you want that number checked before you pay it, that part I can do.
Send it over for a free second opinion. I'll tell you straight what the job actually involves, and if their quote is fair, I'll tell you that too.
Get a Free Second OpinionOther makes:
I'm not the guy who does this repair. I'm the guy who tells you whether you actually need it, before you spend $2,500–$3,500. Second opinion at your car, $100–$250 flat, in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Brampton and Etobicoke.
Book a Second Opinion Inspect a Replacement CarYour options on this one