older VW jetta radiator replacement

[cookiedough]

Kid's girlfriend took VW car (I think around a 2006 range jetta 2.5L 5 cylinder) to VW dealer leaking coolant badly said needs new radiator cost 1700 bucks.  Seems way way high to me.  I went to rockauto.com and new radiator is 130 bucks and thermostat 30 bucks.  Never replaced a radiator before, but would assume 3 hour job if all goes well?  Has to be someone up where they live 3.5 hours away auto shop who can do it for them for 3 hours or so labor plus maybe new hoses/clamps, if needed...

NO way would spend 1700 bucks on a 5K car just for replacing a radiator.

[..]

Do it yourself and charge what you think is a fair amount?

[Patrick]

I think I'd recommend getting the hoses and clamps also unless you know for sure that they are in good shape.

[Robert]

If the radiator is leaking then do only that but if its the thermostat housing then its not an easy job. The total labor for both is about 7hrs which is why maybe the dealer is charging such a high price. The thermostat housing is plastic and is known to leak, its under the intake manifold and is a bit of a project to do. The radiator on the other hand is relatively easy but a bit of a pain because it is so tight.

Look carefully under the thermostat housing and see if there are any traces of coolant on the side of the engine. If so and its not bad then you could probably leave it alone.

[scooperhsd]

DOn't forget that VW's use their own special antifreeze as well.

[Jersey mike]

If the radiator is leaking then do only that but if its the thermostat housing then its not an easy job. The total labor for both is about 7hrs which is why maybe the dealer is charging such a high price. The thermostat housing is plastic and is known to leak, its under the intake manifold and is a bit of a project to do. The radiator on the other hand is relatively easy but a bit of a pain because it is so tight.

Look carefully under the thermostat housing and see if there are any traces of coolant on the side of the engine. If so and its not bad then you could probably leave it alone.

Wow just watched a video on the thermostat replacement, that quite a job.

IMO new radiator = all new hoses, clamps and thermostat (who knows how old that thermostat is) and fresh coolant. The cost might sting a little but peace of mind, a big job done, out of the way and ready for years of service to me is worth the expense.

[carolinarider09]

I think I'd recommend getting the hoses and clamps also unless you know for sure that they are in good shape.

 

[old2soon]

    Gonna replace the radiator look at the hoses and thermostat and clamps as Support Systems. And yer already in there! Cooling system is NOT the place to skimp and TRY to save 3 bucks. Sure as ya duz skimp the vehicle Will deposit them tween lost and found or close to B F E!  RIDE SAFE.

[cookiedough]

Do it yourself and charge what you think is a fair amount?

Yah,  not doing the job myself.  Did not know about thermostat being that labor intensive  but I think radiator and hoses/clamps would be not horrible to do and not a 7 hour job, more like 3 hours for a auto shop who somewhat know what they are doing. 

Last time I let one of my kids 'girlfriends' use my old snowblower, they broke up and never got it back even though told the kid wanted it back still ran well worth 150 bucks or so.

[Patrick]

Did the dealer say anything about the thermo housing ? It wasn't mentioned. But, no matter, I wasn't aware it was such a PITA. Glad I now know.

[cookiedough]

no idea what is going on with kid's girlfriends VW car he has not said.   I guess he texted my wife and he is chauffering her around to work, etc. for now.  I think she lives only about 1 mile from his house so not too horrible I guess and her work is about 7 miles away tops about 3.5 hours north of me.

I still would never spend 1700 bucks on a 5K car and instead try to go cheaper route.   Like said,  rockauto.com has a brand new radiator for only 130 bucks and thermostat for 30 bucks.  How can labor be over 1200 bucks for both, no way, even at dealership pricing.

Really amazes me though most auto shop places are 120 to 150 bucks per hour labor rate.  Never knew it would go that high.

[Jersey mike]

no idea what is going on with kid's girlfriends VW car he has not said.   I guess he texted my wife and he is chauffering her around to work, etc. for now.  I think she lives only about 1 mile from his house so not too horrible I guess and her work is about 7 miles away tops about 3.5 hours north of me.

I still would never spend 1700 bucks on a 5K car and instead try to go cheaper route.   Like said,  rockauto.com has a brand new radiator for only 130 bucks and thermostat for 30 bucks.  How can labor be over 1200 bucks for both, no way, even at dealership pricing.

Really amazes me though most auto shop places are 120 to 150 bucks per hour labor rate.  Never knew it would go that high.

Oh, it’s the girlfriend’s car. Thought she was driving your sons car. Let it be her problem. W/o seeing the car or knowing it’s condition, it’s hard to say what’s worth fixing or spending money on. If your feeling generous with your time do the radiator swap and fill it up. Hoses are usually readily available at local shops so on day of swapping radiator if you want to change out then do so or not.

[cookiedough]

no idea what is going on with kid's girlfriends VW car he has not said.   I guess he texted my wife and he is chauffering her around to work, etc. for now.  I think she lives only about 1 mile from his house so not too horrible I guess and her work is about 7 miles away tops about 3.5 hours north of me.

I still would never spend 1700 bucks on a 5K car and instead try to go cheaper route.   Like said,  rockauto.com has a brand new radiator for only 130 bucks and thermostat for 30 bucks.  How can labor be over 1200 bucks for both, no way, even at dealership pricing.

Really amazes me though most auto shop places are 120 to 150 bucks per hour labor rate.  Never knew it would go that high.

Oh, it’s the girlfriend’s car. Thought she was driving your sons car. Let it be her problem. W/o seeing the car or knowing it’s condition, it’s hard to say what’s worth fixing or spending money on. If your feeling generous with your time do the radiator swap and fill it up. Hoses are usually readily available at local shops so on day of swapping radiator if you want to change out then do so or not.

no, not letting anyone but family drive our own cars.  I am insuring 5 of them and 5 cycles, do NOT need my insurance to raise up anymore with 2 kids under age 25 in case outside family members wreck my cars.    Once in a blue moon my daughter's fiance drives her (mine actually) SUV but seldom since he knows how I feel about it in case he wrecks it. 

I agree,  her families problem, not mine.  I would consider swapping radiators/hoses for a few hundred bucks myself but like said 3.5 hours away and is WINTER out and even in a garage at say 35 degrees inside is NOT my cup of tea freezing out there for an entire day with COLD metal.

Have my own car issues now.  Daughter's SUV check engine light came on once again for small evap leak was off a full 2 weeks AFTER the hyundai dealer did recall to add a part to the canister and thought it fixed it since was resetting/clearing the code with my OBDII scanner and dashlight was coming back on every 3 to 5 days.  So, thought 2 weeks NO dashlight after dealer added recall fixed it.  IS NOT the case now.  I will toss a PURGE valve in engine area this weekend for 56 bucks after trying new gas cap which did not work. 

ONLY 2 other parts (besides hoses that dealer 'claims' they looked at while doing recall 2 weeks ago) is a vent valve 220 bucks and the entire charcoal canister which is 330 bucks. 

Is odd though the recall helped for 2 whole weeks NO dashlight vs. prior only lasted 3 to 5 days for small evap. leak P codes.

[cookiedough]

I guess on my SUV small evap leak suppose to do a smoke test on it and watched utube video at one time showing how to do it with homemade stuff to see if smoke coming out somewhere.  Just wish hyundai dealer did that when doing recall adding the extra part to the canister but did not since was NOT specifically stated doing that in the recall even though they already knew I had a small evap leak and dashlight was on at the time.  Dealer does not care just wanted MORE money to run a smoke test costing few hundred bucks just doing the recall ONLY.

I am beginning to wonder if that recall adding that plastic part to the charcoal canister that HYUNDAI already knew the canister goes bad or had issues that model year issuing a recall and was too cheap to replace the canister vs. adding a cheap 20 buck part to the canister to 'hopefully' remedy the problem which it did not?  Would not put it past Hyundai to do a band aid approach and cover up the REAL problem being bad canisters that cost 330 bucks.

[Robert]

Wow just watched a video on the thermostat replacement, that quite a job.
 

I do think the new cars are not made with any kind of service in mind. The car may be fairly cheap but the repairs will eat you out of house and home

Case in point, A little high on the car scale but it applies so,

A Bentley, Yes Bentley, the Continental nice car, used is fairly inexpensive for a luxury vehicle,but if your starter needs to be replaced you will shell out 15k at the dealer. Yes 15 thousand to replace the starter about half the price of a good used older Bentley. No one cries louder than the guy who has the money, has expensive toys but does not want to shell out the money.

Many examples of this in all cars but, this is only the upper end of WTH with designs on cars. Who designs a car that you have to do 35 hours work to remove a starter.

[Robert]

Really amazes me though most auto shop places are 120 to 150 bucks per hour labor rate.  Never knew it would go that high.

Audi about 290, Mercedes 225>250, any run of the mill dealer in American cars 140 to 175, RR about 375, just some numbers.

The biggest thing I see is the rip off of hours and job estimation. No longer do many dealers use posted times for their repairs meaning shop times. They let the tech say the hours needed to do the job. So if book time is 3 and the tech says he needs 7 you pay for 7. Along with the diagnostic fee on any problem of at least one hour labor non refundable and the radiator, tire, and brake flush services told people need when they dont is just mind boggling.

[Skinhead]

Small Evap leaks will not effect the performance or hurt the reliability of the vehicle.  Unless you need to pass an emission test for inspections, I would just live with it, at least until it warms up and you can work on the vehicle in relative comfort.  Your leak could be a damaged O ring on a connector disturbed during the recall.  A smoke test is a good way to find the leak, or pressurize the system and use soapy water on all the hoses and connectors. 

The EVAP leak tests/diagnostics were mandated by the EPA in the mid 90's to detect evaporative emissions that result from fuel vapors escaping to the atmosphere.  Prior to that, vehicles did not have sealed fuel systems and fuel vapors just vented to the atmosphere.  On the new systems vapor emissions are captured in the charcoal canister while the engine is not running and then purged from the canister and burned when the engine is running.  All of this to prevent a couple grams of hydrocarbons being emitted to the atmosphere.  The current volcano eruption in Hawaii is dumping tons of toxic gasses into the atmosphere, as does every California wildfire.  The problem is the EPA can't control volcanoes or wildfires.  It's all a huge waste of money.

[f6john]

While I consider myself a gear head, my 2005 Titan has been so trouble free, that I’m still learning things. The guy I let out work on my 95 SS saw I was driving a Titan and told me he had just replaced the starter on one and showed it to me. Didn’t concern me as I always just pull them off and have them rebuilt. Then he told me it was under the intake manifold! I knew other cars were that way but had no idea that the Titan was too! I haven’t had any starter problems yet but at least I won’t be crawling around on the floor trying not I find it

[Robert]

  The current volcano eruption in Hawaii is dumping tons of toxic gasses into the atmosphere, as does every California wildfire.   It's all a huge waste of money.

Its not a waste of money at all the government is making millions possible billions in enforcement, carbon credits.

[Jersey mike]

Really amazes me though most auto shop places are 120 to 150 bucks per hour labor rate.  Never knew it would go that high.

Audi about 290, Mercedes 225>250, any run of the mill dealer in American cars 140 to 175, RR about 375, just some numbers.

The biggest thing I see is the rip off of hours and job estimation. No longer do many dealers use posted times for their repairs meaning shop times. They let the tech say the hours needed to do the job. So if book time is 3 and the tech says he needs 7 you pay for 7. Along with the diagnostic fee on any problem of at least one hour labor non refundable and the radiator, tire, and brake flush services told people need when they dont is just mind boggling.

Finding a good mechanic is tough. Finding a good mechanic that’s not expensive is a miracle…but they do exist.

The mechanic I’ve used for over 25 years recently retired. He had a young guy working with him for several years and did work on my cars. If he was good enough to work for my guy I had no problem there.

The mechanic set set the young guy up with a lease at a new location, keep his business phone number, customer and vendor contacts along with other stuff.

He’s now my new mechanic. Hopefully for a long time.

[cookiedough]

well,  this story keeps on getting better.  Kid's girlfriends VW jetta, found out is newer 2011, not 2006 or so even though looks older,  still a 2.5L inline 5 cylinder, the auto shop dropped the garage door on it's roof and put a sizeable creese on roof and took off some paint, etc. 

I stayed out of it since found out her mom is an American Family Insurance agent owning her own office so am sure she will handle it.    I would have NEVER paid the bill if it happened to me until 100% fixed to my satisfaction or at least 1/2 off the bill and live with the dent on roof, maybe?  If was newer and less miles than 115K,  I woulda run it thru their own insurance and tell them fix it like new or the replaced radiator be a FREE job.

[cookiedough]

Small Evap leaks will not effect the performance or hurt the reliability of the vehicle.  Unless you need to pass an emission test for inspections, I would just live with it, at least until it warms up and you can work on the vehicle in relative comfort.  Your leak could be a damaged O ring on a connector disturbed during the recall.  A smoke test is a good way to find the leak, or pressurize the system and use soapy water on all the hoses and connectors. 

The EVAP leak tests/diagnostics were mandated by the EPA in the mid 90's to detect evaporative emissions that result from fuel vapors escaping to the atmosphere.  Prior to that, vehicles did not have sealed fuel systems and fuel vapors just vented to the atmosphere.  On the new systems vapor emissions are captured in the charcoal canister while the engine is not running and then purged from the canister and burned when the engine is running.  All of this to prevent a couple grams of hydrocarbons being emitted to the atmosphere.  The current volcano eruption in Hawaii is dumping tons of toxic gasses into the atmosphere, as does every California wildfire.  The problem is the EPA can't control volcanoes or wildfires.  It's all a huge waste of money.

well, this sucks,  daughter texted me the new PURGE valve lasted ONLY 2 days and dashlight came on again so not the gas cap nor new purge valve, both new OEM hyundai parts.  Weird how the old purge valve after recall done lasted 2 weeks and now only 2 days, hmmm.... weird for sure.    bought daughter an OBDII scanner code reader to clear the P0442 small evap leak code for now not dealing with it anymore this winter.  Like said,  will not harm vehicle until if becomes LARGE evap leak.  Tempted to take new OEM hyundai purge valve off since easy to do and return it to them in next few weeks since wasted 58 bucks. Dealer refused doing a smoke test, etc. while doing the recall to add that extra part to the big evap charcoal canister just following procedure is all adding the part, clear the code, and sending daughter on her way. 

It could just be a hose or clamp small leak somewhere but guess gotta do a smoke test to find out?