What would you do...Inner gear housing leak

[icarus33]

I'm at a crossroads with my purchased new 1998 truck that now has 396k miles on it. This summer, been working on addressing obvious oil leaks; oil pan and valve tappet cover done. Had a leak up front continue and after the shop put in dye, the leak is seen at the inner seal of the front gear housing where it bolts to the block. Looking for some input if this was your rig, which direction to head. New truck is not an option.

1) Tear down to the housing and replace gaskets/seals. Major labor time (23hrs quoted) $3,800.
2) With the mileage already and intent to keep the truck, another option offered was to purchase a rebuilt long block and swap it in. About the same labor time, $11k total.
3) Live with it, but hate when stuff leaks...

Looking for some factors that would tip the scale one way. transmission, injection pump, turbo all newer within past 4 years.

 

[Timd32]

Any Diesel schools near by, I attended one in the mid 90s in Nashville, as long as we had the class we could work on that system when shop time rolled around. We always were looking for projects because most of us were broke and did not have the money to work on our stuff. Some kids had great projects with better budgets. You needed approval to get the truck in was not hard, and it's a at your own risk deal but we took it very seriously some of us anyway.

But I think that this is something they could handle.

Just a thought.

Hours check out from what I ran with out adding a ton of extras that 23 was fair, (warranty back in the day is showing 17.6, which is a 30% savings over the 24.8, but remember folks used to work on these alot, most techs might not have that kind of speed for the old stuff.)

 

[GrantP]

The school is a great idea. I know I fixed a lot of teachers cars in class because we needed the hours and teachers only paid for parts. We took in a lot of outside vehicles too, basically any simple job that could be completed in a few hours/days was accepted. The instructor was always picky about which students were allowed to work on outside vehicles (which was a good thing).

 

[icarus33]

A specific diesel/automotive school isn't in my area. There is a trades school that would be the closest possibility. I have a neighbor's son and he's taking welding there online. I don't know how that will work out in the real world some day.
This would be a good project like you mentioned for someone that has never pulled one apart from what I've seen a video of myself.

 

[BigPapa]

Resealing the gear housing is a big job. At your mileage, if I could afford it, I'd go with a a complete rebuild or a reman. That said, you may be able to go another 200K miles without a rebuild. My '95 12-valve engine is at 590K right now, never had the head off, but she's getting tired. I'm in the process of fixing my backup truck so I can pull her out and rebuild her.

 

[GAmes]

1) Tear down to the housing and replace gaskets/seals. Major labor time (23hrs quoted) $3,800.

I'd find a different shop. That is over $165 an hour. No mechanic is worth that. It shouldn't take 23 hours anyway. Even as an amateur I could do that in less time.

 

[Ozymandias]

Try just to re-torque the bolts, mine leaked to and I found several just finger thight.
For me, problem was gone after that.
Worth a try.