Well, I bought my 94 850 a month ago and it needs a new rear seal...sucks right?

While I have it in the shop, what else should I have them take care of?
Timing belt?
Tune up?
???

I don't want to spend a lot extra, but what should I ask them to look at?

 

Change the fluids, engine and tranny. Timing belt would be good too. If the rear main blew you probably should replace the PCV system as thats probably the cause. A lot of work but keeps the car tip top since you dont want to have to replace that seal again.

 

I first suspected the PVC but there was no oil anywhere but directly under the seal. It also did not start leaking until a week until after I bought it, so I figure that the seal dried out while it sat on the dealer lots and transport trucks until I bought it. From what I understand, if a seal dries out from lack of use...it is much more likely to fail.


Anything else?

 

That makes sense. Sorry to hear. Another thing to look at are vacuum lines and hoses. They become hard and brittle.

 

I agree with all fluids, timing belt, and just general maintenance like that.

If there is anything we can help you get (part-wise) please let me know.

 

OK,
got the car back on Friday. They replaced the fluids, rear main seal, timing kit and water pump.

Drove it 50 miles over the weekend and all was well. My wife took it on a 100 mile drive today and made it 50 miles out of town when it started sputtering, shaking, loosing power then gave out all together.

She made it to the side of the road and reported some light smoke from the engine and the smell of hot rubber. I call the repair shop, got a truck on the way and drove out to meet her. I tried to start it and the starter was fine but it would not turn over and there was a light puff of smoke from the engine.

Thoughts?

 

Ouch, sounds like a possible overheat. Maybe a head gasket.

 

Hopefully they bleeded the coolant system after filling it and took all the air locks out. If not, then you might have overheated it and the worst case would be a head gasket.
These are just assumptions but I hope that it turns out to be something simple and easy fix.
More details will help.

 

OK, once it got back to the shop they simply started it and drove it in the bay. They have run it on a fast idle and it looses power and stutters to a stop. The diagnostics point to a cam sensor issue. New one should be here tomorrow and hopefully they will acknowledge that they damaged it when they dropped the engine to replace the rear main seal, timing kit and water pump.

 

They might have damaged the connector or cable of the sensor when they dropped the engine. Hope they will acknowledge this and wont be a load on your wallet.