Hi,

This week I was quoted $700 to replace the rocker cover seal and tube seals. It was from a Mitsubishi Service shop. Does that sound excessive? I have a 2003 TJ Magna Exec, 121000km.

Thanks.

For both front and rear block? most likely that high because they charge like $120 an hr for labour, to do it yourself is fairly easy. parts are $60 in total, assuming you have a 10mm socket piece. other than that its just your own time that youre paying for

That sounds about right. The tube seals take a bit of time. I paid $800 back in 2008

I think it sounds like way too much, I charge $120 for the rear and $90 for the front, this is including ACL gasket kits.

Look at retail price, most dont take much time in cleaning the covers like I do so lets put down 3 hours all up, and that is being generous, that is $360 labour. Add to this the cost of GENUINE parts, lets be generous and say $200 so that is still a long way short of $700

If you want to save some $$ I do the kits for $27 each, get a local mechanic or a couple of AMC members who have done this before to assist and you will be a lot richer

Thanks for that, much appreciated, I'll try what Madmagna said.

Cheers

That's a crazy price I'm with Mal on this one even with excessive labor charges usually about $100 per hour it shouldn't be anywhere near that cost. I did the front seals and gasket with a kit from Mal last night took about 20 min all up, I did the rear last week took 35 min so 1 hour for both and I'm a bloody youthworker by trade! I don't even use the expensive rear plugs as there is no performance advantage and they only take 20 min to change the rear anyway. There is nothing mysterious about taking the inlet manifold off just take your time and be careful move the whole thing out of the way to the passenger side and you can access the lot from the drivers side.

he/she is in WA
and is say thats about right with the skyrocketing prices over here

if the genuine seals cost $200 then the dealer is probably charging out $200/hour on 2.5 hours which is about right (some of the premium brands sit around $400/hour)
i'd expect that an independent mechanic would charge out the kits for $120 and 2.5 hours labour at $140/hour... totalling $400

but as stated above if you can DIY then you'll save yourself a small fortune.... and it appears that Mal's price is far superior to what i last paid over here @ trade price
also of note the dealers over this way have been known to sell parts to anyone off the street for the same price that they tell us is "trade price"

I paid $1200 for the 140k service and having the tube seals and rocker cover gaskets replaced. That was in Perth in December.

he/she is in WA
and is say thats about right with the skyrocketing prices over here

if the genuine seals cost $200 then the dealer is probably charging out $200/hour on 2.5 hours which is about right (some of the premium brands sit around $400/hour)
i'd expect that an independent mechanic would charge out the kits for $120 and 2.5 hours labour at $140/hour... totalling $400

but as stated above if you can DIY then you'll save yourself a small fortune.... and it appears that Mal's price is far superior to what i last paid over here @ trade price
also of note the dealers over this way have been known to sell parts to anyone off the street for the same price that they tell us is "trade price"

**** me, up to $400 per hour, I am bloody moving to Perth then, even at $200 an hour, I could afford to fly home to Melbourne each night using a limo to take me too and from the airport lol

OP, shop around, I am sure that there must be cheaper places

I'm gonna mine this one for a quick question. I have a front rocker cover leaking oil. Is it as simple as taking off the bolts and replacing the gasket? Or does this involve more work?

my mechanic charges me $55 per hour,normal rate he charges $77 but when working for porsche he made fairly a decent amount of money to open his own shop in 3 years of working there lol Mitsubishi dealers are way over priced even the used sales manager was charged to have his 380 timing belt done $1200 he said then a week later $550 for the tensior to be replaced.

And again ppl forget the cost of running a shop. I have to pay lease, wages for staff, equipment (one item was over 8.5grand on its own) accountants, phone, power, Internet, insurance, water, advertising etc etc before I can even draw 1c for my own wages. I charge $85 per hour. Mits dealer or any other for that matter employ far more ppl than I do, have more equipment, higher insurance, higher lease cost etc etc so of course they charge more.

If a service manager paid $1200 for a timing belt on a 380 he is either a lier or an idiot, even drive in at most dealers a timing belt on its own is well under $800.

I did the rocker cover gaskets on mine recently, and in total I paid about $67 (a pair of gaskets and a set of tube seals from Mal off his eBay shop), and two and a half hours of mine and a mate's time (first time doing it, wanted to make sure it was done right the first time).

I had the timing belt done in May. I paid $1090, which included a timing belt kit with hydraulic tensioner, water pump kit, the rear bank timing belt cover, both drivebelts, RH engine mount and a radiator cap. I bought the parts myself prior and had them fitted by a mechanic I deal with. Labour was about $570, parts were $520.

Was that front and back? I only need to do the front one.

Was that front and back? I only need to do the front one.

Both banks. Mal was selling them for about $27 per bank (+$13 shipping) when I purchased mine. From memory they included three tube seals also. Heaps cheaper than genuine, which was well over $100 for both banks

Sweet. My theory is that I just have to take the rocker cover off, scrape off the remnants of the old gasket and put it in like any other gasket. Bolt it up and I'm home free. Probably wrong but that's why I asked.

Thats about it for the front banks, if memory serves me. Remove the PCV hose and try to take the breather hose off before removing the rocker cover, it will grant you more ease of movement. Most importantly, make sure the gasket is properly seated in the rocker cover and don't do up the bolts too tightly. I think it should be at about 3-4nm - slightly tighter than finger tight - and check them again a week or two afterwards, it will probably need to be re-tightened.

I have no idea what my usual mech charges but he did my timing belt, cam seals, changed oil in engine and gearbox and changed brake fluid. ( i supplied the oils) and it was $700. If you get a figure close to that for that amount of work you are doing well.
Oh and fuel filter.

wow, what a rip-off! I just bought the seals from mal and the total cost was what about $50 and an afternoon of my time. (I have no previous experience) but with a friend and a copy of the workshop book we managed to do the timing belt, seals and water pump.
There's a DIY day for WA in the works, maybe get some peeps to give you a hand?

Edit: invest a few dimes in a good socket set though, no supercheap crap!