Please Advise, Reguarding Dealership Service

[Jayson]

Hello everyone, I just took my 2001 Accord LX (Sedan) to my local Honda dealership.

I went in to get a quote on some work that they recommended I should get done the last time I brought my car in. Basically they are trying to rule out causes of an oil leak, and recommended changing the "Oil Pan Gasket" and the "Distributor Sub-Housing Assembly". I also want them to do an oil change while they're at it.

The salesman's first quote was $680, and he toyed around with the idea of $650.

That wasn't good enough, so I declined and mentioned how much I spent at the dealership for service the last time I brought my car in. He said he would work with me and called the parts guy and talked for a minute before hanging up and changing the offer to $415, and he'd throw in the oil change for free.

Due to the $200+ price difference, I accepted and scheduled the appointment for tomorrow.

Can anybody offer any advice here? Are they still way overcharging? Are these things I could easily change myself with pretty limited tools/experience? Does anyone know the item numbers for the sub-housing and oil pan gasket so I could check the prices on a Honda parts site?

Some background on my car and the service I had last time:

The last time I brought my car in for service there I had a bunch of work done (timing belt/water pump, oil change, transmission flush, spark plugs, multi-point inspection, distributor o-ring, hoses, thermostat/fan switch, reseal power steering pump assembly, new air filter, alignment, cam/crank/balancer shaft seal) that ended up costing me $2500. It was at this time they also recommended the oil pan gasket and sub-housing but I declined.

$1722.96 of that was labor and only $724.51 in parts. (I brought that up before he lowered the previously mentioned quote from $680 to $415.)

It has only been 3 months and I've put on about 4000 miles, but my oil dipstick reading is not showing any oil. I am pretty upset that after spending so much money my car is still having issues. I can only assume it's an oil leak even though I do not see any oil below my car.

My friend suggested he doesn't think it's an oil leak and they just didn't properly fill it with oil last time I took it in for service, but I don't think that sounds reasonable that my car could've gone 3 months and 4000 miles with no oil.

TLDR
I think I have an oil leak and want to get an oil change. Dealership says $415 for "oil pan gasket" and "new distributor sub-housing assembly" + oil change. Reasonable? Necessary?

 

[RedRyder]

You pay for the labor when you go to the dealer, thats what most of that cost is. Parts are usually not that much more expensive than if you bought them yourself.

How many hours did they quote the labor at?

 

[DarkSideAccord]

$2500 labor?

 

[RedRyder]

^$1723 of that was labor

I'll ask the dumb question. Are you sure its the correct dipstick? If it is, you have to have a leak somewhere, and if there is never any oil under the car it must be dripping onto the block somewhere, in which case you would smell burning oil when you're driving.

 

[DarkSideAccord]

^$1723 of that was labor

oppss...

but still....

 

[99EXCoupe]

Not sure how handy you are, but I would attempt to diagnose the leak myself first. You should be able to rule out the distributor leaking pretty easily. Mine was leaking internally, and it was very evident when I pulled the cap off. There are several articles over at http://honda-tech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2 on these issues.

The parts (OEM Dizzy) (FEL PRO gasket) are around 200.00 so half your money will be in labor cost which is typical. If you are leaking enough oil for it to be that low on the dipstick, then there should be a lot of evidence either on the engine or on the ground.

When I first knew I had a leak I used an old hot rod trick. Take 2 cans of scrubbing bubbles (yes, bathroom cleaner) and head to the car wash. Let the engine cool a little and coat it with the foam, rinse, repeat. Try to get underneath as much as possible...... car ramps help a lot. Driving home should dry it off, and then look for leaks. You will be surprised how well the scrubbing bubbles work.

 

[RedRyder]

If you are leaking enough oil for it to be that low on the dipstick, then there should be a lot of evidence either on the engine or on the ground.

That's what I'm saying, which made me wonder if at some point the OEM dipstick got lost and one was put in there that doesn't have accurate readings.

And if oil was leaking internally in places it wasn't suppose to be, it would be obvious.

When I first knew I had a leak I used an old hot rod trick. Take 2 cans of scrubbing bubbles (yes, bathroom cleaner) and head to the car wash. Let the engine cool a little and coat it with the foam, rinse, repeat. Try to get underneath as much as possible...... car ramps help a lot. Driving home should dry it off, and then look for leaks. You will be surprised how well the scrubbing bubbles work.

Nice. There's also the UV die method.

 

[001Stunna]

Hello everyone, I just took my 2001 Accord LX (Sedan) to my local Honda dealership.

I went in to get a quote on some work that they recommended I should get done the last time I brought my car in. Basically they are trying to rule out causes of an oil leak, and recommended changing the "Oil Pan Gasket" and the "Distributor Sub-Housing Assembly". I also want them to do an oil change while they're at it.

The salesman's first quote was $680, and he toyed around with the idea of $650.

That wasn't good enough, so I declined and mentioned how much I spent at the dealership for service the last time I brought my car in. He said he would work with me and called the parts guy and talked for a minute before hanging up and changing the offer to $415, and he'd throw in the oil change for free.

Due to the $200+ price difference, I accepted and scheduled the appointment for tomorrow.

Can anybody offer any advice here? Are they still way overcharging? Are these things I could easily change myself with pretty limited tools/experience? Does anyone know the item numbers for the sub-housing and oil pan gasket so I could check the prices on a Honda parts site?

Some background on my car and the service I had last time:

The last time I brought my car in for service there I had a bunch of work done (timing belt/water pump, oil change, transmission flush, spark plugs, multi-point inspection, distributor o-ring, hoses, thermostat/fan switch, reseal power steering pump assembly, new air filter, alignment, cam/crank/balancer shaft seal) that ended up costing me $2500. It was at this time they also recommended the oil pan gasket and sub-housing but I declined.

$1722.96 of that was labor and only $724.51 in parts. (I brought that up before he lowered the previously mentioned quote from $680 to $415.)

It has only been 3 months and I've put on about 4000 miles, but my oil dipstick reading is not showing any oil. I am pretty upset that after spending so much money my car is still having issues. I can only assume it's an oil leak even though I do not see any oil below my car.

My friend suggested he doesn't think it's an oil leak and they just didn't properly fill it with oil last time I took it in for service, but I don't think that sounds reasonable that my car could've gone 3 months and 4000 miles with no oil.

TLDR
I think I have an oil leak and want to get an oil change. Dealership says $415 for "oil pan gasket" and "new distributor sub-housing assembly" + oil change. Reasonable? Necessary?

I hope you have not gone and paid for this already and you have a way out...if you have paid then this is all pointless.
#1 Find an independent shop to service your car...who goes to the dealer(unless you really got some money stashed somewhere). You're getting raped at the dealer and you're letting them rape you with consent.

Now regarding the issue. If they replaced the distributor oring before already, i doubt replacing the housing is necessary. You should park your car on level ground and check the oil level. If you cannot see it on the dipstick then add oil (5w30) untill it shows at the top mark of the etched part on the dipstick. Its the longest dipstick...

Since you're checking stuff, check the coolant level by looking at the reservoir and look at the coolant inside the reservoir. It should not have a milky color. Check the tranny level too to make sure its at the top of the etched mark on the dipstick.

Once you've checked everything, jack the car up and secure it on jackstands. Get under and inspect behind the engine at the oilpan seal, mating point between engine and transmission, area above and around oil filter etc. If you do not see any obvious signs of oil leaking then you might just be ok. If you do see leaks then take some brake cleaner and a rag and clean the area up so its all clean.

Now go buy a bottle of Engine Oil UV dye at most auto parts stores and throw it in the oil.

Now go drive around for a day/a week and recheck the dipstick frequently. If it goes down then you're leaking oil. If it doesnt then maybe they REALLY did not fill it up as they should have. If it does go down, get under the car once again with a blacklight and look for where the leaks appear shiny...follow the trace to the source and voila there's your leak spot. Wearing yellow tinted glasses helps spot the dye.

 

[Jayson]

Thanks for the replies everyone, this is a great board.

You pay for the labor when you go to the dealer, thats what most of that cost is. Parts are usually not that much more expensive than if you bought them yourself.

How many hours did they quote the labor at?

Honestly, I never got a quote for the hours. I took my car in right before I had to drive down to LA from Sacramento for work and said I wanted a major service. I knew when he gave me the price it was pretty high but I wasn't sure just how unreasonably high it really was for all the services they did (or said they did).

^$1723 of that was labor

I'll ask the dumb question. Are you sure its the correct dipstick? If it is, you have to have a leak somewhere, and if there is never any oil under the car it must be dripping onto the block somewhere, in which case you would smell burning oil when you're driving.

The orange one to the right of the engine, correct? As for the leak, I’ve never seen any oil on the ground or smelled it when I’m driving.

Basically I took the car in for the service in April, drove about 400 miles to Los Angeles and worked in Anaheim and Riverside until early June, only driving between the hotel and job site for the most part. After our projects in southern California were finished, I drove the 400 miles back to Sacramento. Then I took off for Detroit leaving my car in California. My little brother took it to San Francisco (about 100 miles) and my mom kept it running for me and took it to work a few times. During this time I nor my brother or mom had noticed any oil on the ground or burning on the engine block.

It was when I got back from Detroit that my mom told me the “oil light” came on as well as the check engine light. She said she checked the dipstick and saw no reading so she went and added two quarts of 5w20 oil (instead of 5w30). I have since checked myself and it indeed shows nothing.

And that leads me to where I am now, stressed out that I’m out $2500 and my car still isn’t ship-shape, and now has been running on low oil and the wrong kind of oil too. Because the dealership recommended those services related to oil leaks, I don’t think I can try and pin this on them whether they forgot to fill up my car with oil or not because now it just looks like I neglected the leak and that’s why I have low oil.

Not sure how handy you are, but I would attempt to diagnose the leak myself first. You should be able to rule out the distributor leaking pretty easily. Mine was leaking internally, and it was very evident when I pulled the cap off. There are several articles over at http://honda-tech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2 on these issues.

The parts (OEM Dizzy) (FEL PRO gasket) are around 200.00 so half your money will be in labor cost which is typical. If you are leaking enough oil for it to be that low on the dipstick, then there should be a lot of evidence either on the engine or on the ground.

When I first knew I had a leak I used an old hot rod trick. Take 2 cans of scrubbing bubbles (yes, bathroom cleaner) and head to the car wash. Let the engine cool a little and coat it with the foam, rinse, repeat. Try to get underneath as much as possible...... car ramps help a lot. Driving home should dry it off, and then look for leaks. You will be surprised how well the scrubbing bubbles work.

I hope you have not gone and paid for this already and you have a way out...if you have paid then this is all pointless.
#1 Find an independent shop to service your car...who goes to the dealer(unless you really got some money stashed somewhere). You're getting raped at the dealer and you're letting them rape you with consent.

Now regarding the issue. If they replaced the distributor oring before already, i doubt replacing the housing is necessary. You should park your car on level ground and check the oil level. If you cannot see it on the dipstick then add oil (5w30) untill it shows at the top mark of the etched part on the dipstick. Its the longest dipstick...

Since you're checking stuff, check the coolant level by looking at the reservoir and look at the coolant inside the reservoir. It should not have a milky color. Check the tranny level too to make sure its at the top of the etched mark on the dipstick.

Once you've checked everything, jack the car up and secure it on jackstands. Get under and inspect behind the engine at the oilpan seal, mating point between engine and transmission, area above and around oil filter etc. If you do not see any obvious signs of oil leaking then you might just be ok. If you do see leaks then take some brake cleaner and a rag and clean the area up so its all clean.

Now go buy a bottle of Engine Oil UV dye at most auto parts stores and throw it in the oil.

Now go drive around for a day/a week and recheck the dipstick frequently. If it goes down then you're leaking oil. If it doesnt then maybe they REALLY did not fill it up as they should have. If it does go down, get under the car once again with a blacklight and look for where the leaks appear shiny...follow the trace to the source and voila there's your leak spot. Wearing yellow tinted glasses helps spot the dye.

No I haven’t brought the car in or paid yet. I appreciate the tips on finding leaks you guys provided, unfortunately I am leaving town for Miami in a couple days and will probably be too busy getting ready for my trip to find the time to work on my car.

I think I am going to find an independent shop and have the oil changed to get the 5w20 out and get the level correct again. While I’m out of town I’ll have someone at home check the dipstick periodically and let me know if the oil reading is consistent. Once I get back to town between projects, if a leak is still evident, I will investigate further.

Does this sound like a decent plan? If there does turn out to be a leak and the car is losing oil while I'm out of town, but the oil is gradually replaced, will the car be fine?

 

[99EXCoupe]

Now regarding the issue. If they replaced the distributor oring before already, i doubt replacing the housing is necessary. You should park your car on level ground and check the oil level. If you cannot see it on the dipstick then add oil (5w30) untill it shows at the top mark of the etched part on the dipstick. Its the longest dipstick...

True statement for external seal. If it is the internal seal, it cannot be changed unless you dis-assemble the distributor and find a seal that fits. I have not located an oem internal seal for sale. The way to tell is if there is oil "inside" of the cap. there is a weep hole that will let it drain from internal to external after it bypasses the seal.