Hi all, hoping to get a sense of what current costs are from the AM dealers to have the timing cover leak repaired. Has anyone been quoted for this within the last year or so? Insofar everything I've found here is a bit older, so hoping to hear about what the current situation is.

Unfortunately developed what seems like a sudden, significant leak. I can't be sure exactly when it started because I rarely see the floor under my Vantage, but I have a good bit of oil on the ground. Based on how much oil I found after the first time I noticed it, and how much has accumulated again over the past week, I'm guessing this started recently. My car was also on a lift about two months ago and nothing was noticed at that time.

It's 1-1.5 inches wide and about a continuous foot long. My garage floor is slightly tilted rearward which would account for the oil running about a foot to the end of the slab, but this is uninterrupted and a consistent 1-1.5 inches all the way through. The first time I spotted it the oil trail was about as long but thinner, so seems like the leak is increasing over the week I've been watching it. Not sure it's the timing cover but figured that would be a good place to start for potential costs since it's the most common issue.

 

I was at a cars and coffee just a few weeks ago and a guy told me he sent his car to Miller Aston Martin. He said the price was fair and he was happy with the results.

 

I just had my car into the dealer to get an alignment and they did a normal check over of the car while it was there. They made mention of the small leak I have in my timing cover which I knew about when I checked over the car after I got it late last year, so not anything I wasn't aware about (I don't have any oil actually leaking onto the ground though). They gave me a quote of around 6500, I think it is 22 hours or so of labor if I ever wanted to get it done. For me considering the leak is miniscule, it's obviously not worth it, but hopefully that gives you an idea of what a dealer may charge considering the labor needed to do the job. As a side note, mine is a 4.7, but I don't think that matters as much for the timing cover.

 

I had a timing cover leak in 2016 fixed under warranty on a 2015 V8 GT - they have to take apart the front suspension and then drop the drivetrain to access it. You pay $6 -$7K in labor to replace a $10 seal. The factory did not put the rubber seal un the correct place and it was pinched. Took 3 days labor.

If it's a seep instead of a leak, just live with it. A leak is different. Are you sure it's not a leak from some other area less $$$?

 

22 hours labor? Yikes.

 

I had a quote back years ago...it was 11 hours... it was just a weep and never fixed it. now I just wipe it dish and clean a few drips from the aluminum undershield

 

Super helpful, sounds like for your dealer has maintained costs to approximately what it has been in the past from what I found. I was expecting around $6k. Fortunately/unfortunately I'll be able to price compare two dealerships as my car has to go back to Denver soon. Really helpful, thanks!

Yeah definitely not sure it's a timing cover leak since I haven't had the car on a lift/looked at, but figured it would be a good place to start to mentally prepare for the costs since this is the most common cause. Certainly hoping it's a less expensive issue. I'm wondering if it is something different since I wasn't told of any seeping during past inspections and this seems to have come on suddenly and immediately being a significant leak.

 

My Vantage had a similar leak that was a light weep if regularly driven and progresses to the next stage if idle.

I'd recommend anyone buying a V8V to make an impromptu visit to the car and ask for it to be on a lift to verify the status of this.

 

I would have it inspected before jumping to the conclusion of it's the front cover. Has it had an oil service recently? Oil filters like to leak at the seam at the base. If the reservoir wasn't torqued correctly or misaligned copper washer.

JW

 

The dealership had the oil filter on my Rapide barely thumb tight, so you never know!

 

While I'll always get a pre-purchase inspection, especially on a car of this caliber, I've had bad luck on my last few inspections. The dealership that inspected this car prior to purchase failed to point out the 8 year old tires or the completely missing backup camera...

I have had my car inspected a couple of times since then and assuming they've done better than the dealer that did the pre-purchase inspection everything has been clean.

Yeah certainly not jumping to conclusions or even expecting this to be the timing cover, just wanting to get a sense of costs in a worst-case scenario, as well as wanting to have a comparison point on the quote from the dealer if it does end up going that way. Unfortunately this isn't the only near-term expense I have for this car coming up.

I actually did get a relatively recent oil change in November before the car went into storage for the winter and have really only been driving it again since the start of May, so very much hoping this could be the case! I have an appointment to go into the dealer next week. I am also having the dealer install some new interior trim so I guess well timed to be able to knock both out at once.

 

I have the dealership "warranty fix" (RTV smeared all over the front cover. Surprisingly that didn't work haha.
Still have a small leak and have no interest in spending thousands on fixing it. I have a nice piece of cardboard under it in the garage.

 

That would be incredibly annoying to be stuck with that "fix" under warranty and dealing with it now years later. If my current leak isn't the timing cover leak I'll be thankful, but when the time comes that it is the timing cover I'll probably just fix it and be done with it. Doesn't seem like dealer service is getting any cheaper over the years...

 

you can see the leak by getting on the ground and looking under the car.

 

I'll offer a data point. A few months ago my local dealership quoted $6,275 for the timing cover leak repair…parts are $640 and the labor amounts to $5,635. It's been weeping for about 10 years. Since it's just a small leak I'll just monitor it and keep a piece of cardboard under the car in the garage.