i recentley had my car in the shop and my machenic is trying to tell me that i am going to need new upper and lower radiator hoses and its going to cost $300 plus tax for everything. is that a fair price? it just seems a lil high for just a upper and lower hose.
lol sorry forget to add its a 03 auto
I think your mechanic is robbing you blind. Go to one of the parts store websites and look up the cost of the hoses. You will more than likely find out that they don't cost more than $50-60 total for both of them and anything more that $50 or so to install them is BS...
idk every thing else he done his price is been really fair he said that the bottom radiator hose is a special order part and cost like $120 so thats y it would be so expensive
Still sounds like a load of crap to me. Never spent over $100 to do mine, and common J body parts like that are not "special order". Time to get a new mechanic, or get the repair manual and do it yourself.
www.Advanceauto.com upper hose $15 lower hose $56. If not in stock most stores can get then in overnight. I really smell BS on this one....
Sucks because most shops also get a massive discount over the price you can personally buy the part for, and then they want to charge even more than that for the part plus labor.
2001 Olds Alero (LD9)
650 whp / 543 ft-lb
@turboalero
Did both of mine last month for 57 bucks and 30 minutes to replace.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish"
damm lol i knew that sounded like too much ill have to talk to him this week about it
well i decided to buy the hoses and do it myself any tips or tricks i should know before i start. ill probley change them sometime this week
Nothing special, just pop then off, and make sure you have a nice sized pan, and pull it off and move since all your coolant is going to spill out. once its done draining, pop the hose off the other end, and reinstall the new one. Do the same for the other one. Best start off with the bottom, this way the coolant can drain. Also, make sure you have enough bottles of coolant, and make sure it says GM APPROVED DEXCOOL. Its a little more enpensive, but since its what GM recommends I would put it back in. Shouldnt take more then 2 gallons. You dont need to buy the premixed stuff, just for every gallon of coolant, put in a gallon of water. Let it run till it gets hot (Operating temp) and keep the coolant reservior at the FULL mark, bc once the thermostat opens it will suck through and you will loose level in your bottle. Other then that, its a very easy job.
do you really need to get dexcool?? will it make that big of a difference if i just get a name brand
Do NOT put anything but DEXCOOL anti-freeze and water into that radiator!!!
Dan Newman wrote:Do NOT put anything but DEXCOOL anti-freeze and water into that radiator!!!
Dan is 100% correct. The green coolant (or Ethalyne Glychol SP??) is not made to work with the aluminum parts in our engine, and can cause water pump failures and corrode alot of bad things. Also, from what I have been told, the Dexcool has a lubricating property in it that will also libricate the moving parts it comes in contact with and the Green coolant doesnt. A proper 50/50 mix of DEXCOOL and Water is what is suppose to go in there. Dont cheap out and buy the green stuff bc other problems will come later, and will be alot more costly down the road.
The only tip I would add is unscrew the plug on the radiator to control the mess. It will drain the system and then you can just worry about a little liquid coming out of the hoses. Pretty straight forward and simple install since both of these hoses are easily accessable.
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Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Dan Newman wrote:Do NOT put anything but DEXCOOL anti-freeze and water into that radiator!!!
Dan is 100% correct. The green coolant (or Ethalyne Glychol SP??) is not made to work with the aluminum parts in our engine, and can cause water pump failures and corrode alot of bad things. Also, from what I have been told, the Dexcool has a lubricating property in it that will also libricate the moving parts it comes in contact with and the Green coolant doesnt. A proper 50/50 mix of DEXCOOL and Water is what is suppose to go in there. Dont cheap out and buy the green stuff bc other problems will come later, and will be alot more costly down the road.
i agree with the cheap green stuff, but i've been running peak gold for the last 5 years. no issues, no leaks.
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Here's something to keep in mind. Almost all shops go by a flat rate labor time guide. If it says 2 hours for both hoses including purging the air out of the system, then labor can easily be high regardless of how long it takes the technician. Then you have to add in the cost of the hoses at the repair facility's price because they are going to mark it up from their cost to make a few bucks. Then you have the waste removal fees, and miscellaneous costs that every shop throws on the bill. $300 doesn't sound unreasonable from a shops view, however from a customers point of view, I would rather save about $250 and do it myself. If I don't know, I'll find a friend who does or get a book and read it.
Some people have brain storms, others light drizzles. And then there are those that have droughts.
Rich Grayo Jr. wrote:Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Dan Newman wrote:Do NOT put anything but DEXCOOL anti-freeze and water into that radiator!!!
Dan is 100% correct. The green coolant (or Ethalyne Glychol SP??) is not made to work with the aluminum parts in our engine, and can cause water pump failures and corrode alot of bad things. Also, from what I have been told, the Dexcool has a lubricating property in it that will also libricate the moving parts it comes in contact with and the Green coolant doesnt. A proper 50/50 mix of DEXCOOL and Water is what is suppose to go in there. Dont cheap out and buy the green stuff bc other problems will come later, and will be alot more costly down the road.
i agree with the cheap green stuff, but i've been running peak gold for the last 5 years. no issues, no leaks.
Well, this is all of what I have been told. Especially since the system was made to work and run only dexcool. From what I know there are alot of diffrences in the chemical make-up of the two. I mean, im not doubting you at all. My girls J I have all makes all models just bc were going to replace her engine soon, so we dont care if it hurts. But once we replace the enigne only GM approved Dexcool is going in. I guess for some its more piece of mind then anything else. My vert, has only dexcool in the system, and that the way I plan on keeping it. But hey, to each their own. If it works for you, go for it
I would never recommend anything but dexcool. In a pinch, all makes all models sure. But if you look at it, Prestone Gm Approved Dexcool is around 12.99 a gallon, and Prestone all makes all models are around 9.99-10.99 a gallon. To me, the couple bucks extra would be worth it. There is a reason GM put that in there. But hey thats only my opinion
^^^ agreed with Mike. Will it work short term? probably. Is it meant for these cars, absolutely not. for the $4 difference, why cut corners? my only problem with dex-cool is that it looks too much like transmission fluid once it hits the ground.
