Reasonable Cost? Transmission Pan Gasket Seal
 

Is $375 a reasonable price for replacing a leaking trans pan gasket? The transmission fluid would be drained, not flushed. ls400 1st gen. thanks.

sounds a little high, shouldnt be more than $300 imho including the fluid at $65 an hour.

u can soooo easily do this in ur driveway...hell in the street also. cple bolts, some RTV sillicone, some new oil and ur straight.

Yeah this can be done on your own for less than $20 provided you have the correct tools.

10mm socket, extension, socket wrench, and a torque wrench. Easy.

^exactly, i did mine in like an hours and a half. 20 dollars gasket and filter, and three bottles of tranny fluid. total cost=35 dollars ish.

yeah, that's what a thought after looking at that pictorial in lexls. doesn't look that much more complicated than changing engine oil (i've never done either). i would try this in a heartbeat, but no good place to do it. i've never jacked up a car in my life either, and would have to buy the tools, etc.

i will call around to get some other quotes...

Yeah try to shop around at a mom-n-pop type import shop that are familiar with working on Lexus automobiles. $300 for this job is WAAAYYY too high. I would expect you could get away with <$200.

where in cali are u?? see if anyone is willing to help u in the regional forums. just pay for lunch or dinner and a 6pack and im sure they'll do it.

I could help you out if you're in the Bay Area, within reason.

The tranny pan on these is easy to pull, but if RTV silicone was used to seal it, it's a pain to break the seal.

Wow. i guess someone mistook me for a fool! Good thing I asked (here). Thanks!!

nice offer, thanks, but i'm in LA. i have a few other things i need to do, so can probably negotiate it down to a very reasonable amount with an indie mechanic (i have some leads). i can't believe i was quoted that high. maybe they made a mistake. oh well...

Im in LA also, in fact im about to do mine as I type this. So RTV instead of a gasket is what I see posted. Im not sure about the RTV, think I feel better with the gasket. Cant find one without getting a trans filter also.

you may as well change the filter while you are at it (if you are going with the gasket). several people have commented that RTV is really hard to remove.

i found a really great blog that shows step by step (realize you may not need any instruction) for changing out the fluid, and also how to non-machine flush. go to my other recent thread "transmission: drain or flush" (titled something like that) and the links are there.

The Purolator filter (screen) kit comes with a high quality, reusable gasket. If you ever have to go back in there (for a solenoid replacement for example), it will make life easier that's for sure...the pan on mine was REALLY stuck on there with red RTV.

I did get another quote from an independent shop (with certified Lexus mechanics) and they were significantly less. $150'ish. That's a very big difference in price. Pays to shop around. Even more interesting, is that I am now not convinced I HAVE a transmission leak. There is no fluid on the ground. There is no fluid on that y-connection behind the transmission pan (which would indicate blow back). I'll check again in the morning, but so far, nothing. The pan is oily all around, however, but isn't that the case more often than not? A few years ago, I was also advised to replace the gasket, and on my way out of the shop, one of the nicer mechanics pulled me off to the side and told me that that pan had 'seepage' not a leak, and that I really did not need to do a thing. And I didn't, and it's been fine all this time. No fluid loss whatsoever. Is the seepage worse? Probably, it's been years since I was first told of this! But the fact remains, if it's not yet a leak, I don't really have to do it. And as far as I can tell, if there isn't dripping onto the ground, or on the undercarriage parts behind the transmision, I don't have a leak. I have seepage. Thoughts?

Also, even if that's not a leak, I still need to get new/clean fluids in there.

I'm doing mine after work today. :)

Talked to a Lexus mechanic with decades of experience working on these cars. He said silicone (not a gasket) is what will be on my LS400. Said they didn't use gaskets. Not sure if he was just referring to the 1st generation LS400s (what I drive), or LS400s in general.

iirc Lexus didnt use a gasket, they used RTV, which is why you can't walk into a dealership and ask for a trans pan gasket.

UPDATE: I got the work done (took about an hour) for $130 at an indie shop with Lexus trained mechanics. Everyone's input/comments here saved me several hundred dollars. And yes, they used RTV/silicone (there is no transmission pan 'gasket' per se). The car runs much better and shifts smoother. I did not have a flush done, as removing the pan drained out maybe 5 quarts of fluid.

UPDATE: Drove 30 miles or so at freeway speed to get to the shop. Looked at the y-bar (in area behind the tranny pan) for wet spots, and there were none. I would think if there were a true leak at that seal, I would see blowback of the fluid after driving at high speed for some distance.

The reason I had the work done anyway is because there WAS visible pooling on one outer corner of the pan (nothing major though), more so than the last time that was looked at (year ago?). Plus taking off the pan drained out a lot more of the dirty fluid (decided against a full flush).

I could have put it off for longer, how much longer before it developed into a full-on leak I do not know. I do know shops recommend this 'fix' when the 'problem' is nothing more than normal seepage. So do your homework and see for yourself before agreeing to the expense.

yea too high, my mech quoted me $50 lol

glad u got it settled