Oil Pan Gasket Cost

[chris082676]

Took my 92 Camry to a local shop and they said my oil pan gasket was cracked. He quoted me a price of $375 to fix it. He said the majority of it was labor. Does that sound about right? Any help is appreciated.

[REAPER STRAIN]

WTF! An aftermarket gasket for your car is made of cork and costs $10 at any autoparts store. If you go by the manual says you should use ultra black RTV sealant (gasket maker). The oil pan seal is one of the easiest things to change on your car. You should burn that guy's shop down for quoting you that price (no jury in the world would convict).

Download the service manuals (pdfs) for your camry's engine and look under oil pan. Most important thing to remember is to thoroughly clean the pan and block surface. Use a scrapper and brake cleaner. The other is not to over tighten the bolts when putting them back on. Only tighten it a little bit. I think the manual says something like 7-9 lbs/foot which is not much.

If you are not inclinded to getting under your car then take it to a shade tree mechanic and he should do if for about $20-$40.
Good luck

[Cyorke]

BEnd over is all I can say. Please do not go back to this guy again. All you need is some black RTV like Reaper said and you are good to go. Get a jack and some jack stands and do it yourself for very cheap, just your time and a tube of RTV. Pretty much just a bunch of 10mm bolts and then scrape off the old sealer and put new on. Bolt it all back up and you are good to go after you fill it up with oil.

[88 LE]

Toyota does not use a gasket on the oil pan, but you can buy one at a autoparts store. Fel-Pro makes one.

You don't need a gasket, but you can use one if you want.

All you really need is a tube of RTV silicone like the others said.


And $375. Thats bent over and raped with no lube.

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by chris082676

Took my 92 Camry to a local shop and they said my oil pan gasket was cracked. He quoted me a price of $375 to fix it. He said the majority of it was labor. Does that sound about right? Any help is appreciated.

i know the 1mz-fe does not use gasket for lower oil pan, it uses silicon,
but not sure about your 92 camry,
and it is very easy to change yourself too,
just drain all the engine oil, and there about 10 or 12 of small 9mm or 10mm bolts to loose, pry it open if the silicon stuck too tight, and use the razer blade to scrape off any old silicon, squeeze new silicon on the oil pan and bolt it back, wait for a while for silicon to dry and refill engine oil again.

it would be a little costly if majority of it is labor. the silicon is not that expensive.

[Pineapple]

I just silicone mine, 5S-FE. Never leak. Only problem is you may need to remove lower cross member to get the pan out. Which will need power tool or long breaker bar. Use some good degreaser like throttle body cleaner to clean the mating surface.

[Kep]

Way too much for just replacing an oil pan gasket! First, are you sure this is all he was going to do? Second, if it was, I'd be very suspicious that there was anything wrong with the gasket in the first place. I've read similar posts elsewhere that often end up that some engine oil from another source was leaking and it dribbled down to the lowest spot, the oil pan. The oil pan itself was almost always OK.

Check your transmission fluid level (you do this while the car is running, warm and after shifting through all the gears). If it is OK keep an eye on it regularly while you verrify just what your problem is.

Kep

[zoni]

OMG that is the worst ive ever heard....

yeah a tube of RTV sealant costs what, 7-8 bucks?
and the 10 minutes labor???? OMG $370 for labor!!?!?!

haha

[88 LE]

^ Its a few bucks for a small tube, unless you buy the big tubes that go in a caulking gun.

I got a few tubes for free. Got a friend thats a mechanic. He calls it donations from work.

Originally Posted by Pineapple

I just silicone mine, 5S-FE. Never leak.

Same here.

I had to reseal mine when I removed the pan to weld on a fitting (turbo oil return).

[foompla]

their excuse is that it take 4 hours becuase you have to take off the front pipe.

a v6 is about 1 hour for labor. the repair is rtv sealer. no gasket needed

[D0UG]

If you lived near me, I would fix it for - - - half that price.

[REAPER STRAIN]

You dont have to take the exhaust pipe to change the oil pan. It makes it easier to access the bolts but not really cos you can access it easy enuff. Any shop that would take the exhaust pipe off (and risk stripping those 3 nuts) just to take off a pan isn't worth being in business.

[REAPER STRAIN]

Wait.. i take that back... its a PERFECT scam to get 4 hours for labor!

[Pineapple]

I don't think you can remove the pan without removing downpipe and cross member. Then you can still clean it up and apply RTV without pulling it out. Now I won't recommand if you're doing it in your driveway but it could be done by applying RTV on the underside of the block.

[ekim55121]

if they only made an affordable machine that could spin your car arround so that you cn work on the underside with out having to use a lift or jack stands life would be alot easier.