I took my (paid off) 2015 Ford Escape in for a door latch recall service, and the dealer found a leak at the timing chain cover and a worn front engine mount. The repairs are $803 for the engine mount and $2900 to reseal the timing chain cover. I understand the costs are partially due to dealer markup and the California location. From what I’ve seen, DIY repairs are within my capabilities but beyond my tools and time.
Would a good, non-dealer mechanic offer a substantial savings over the dealer’s price? Or, since there are no symptoms (I use the car just for groceries), should I just leave things as they are?
Which is it? AWD or 2.5L? The 2.5L is FWD only.
Is it leaking so much that you have to add oil or clean up oil spots? Do you notice a lot of engine vibration? A good rule of thumb is that if you let them inspect the car, they will likely find $2k-$4k worth of things to fix. The motor mount is something that requires a jack and basic hand tools, right?
It’s definitely AWD, so I could be mistaken about the displacement. I don’t notice any vibration or clunking, and there are no oil spots on the driveway where I park it.
I have mostly imperial tools, and the car is metric. I have some metric tools for my motorcycle, and a creaky old transmission jack, but I don’t have any 1/2" ratchet sockets other than the huge one for the axle bolt. Buying a few metric tools would still be cheaper than the quoted cost though.