i took it to a more experienced mechanic this morning. He showed me a jar that he'd put in my radiator to seal leaks and he said K-seal and Bar's Seal don't work well. Then he told me to return in 3 days so he can look at it again.

If it's not at least 7 hours of labor at 80 - 90 bucks an hour totalling 560 bucks and then parts which they can get OEM on-line unlike Midas or other bigger chains, then this $800 is definitely not the going rate to repair any coolant leak on a 4th Gen.

I'd think 375 to 625 bucks is more reasonable.

I mean you just move around the radiator area and then air gun away the bolts and add sealant so the coolant doesn't leak, unless you have to do a Mr. Operation board game and take out the fan belt near it or take out the water pump and then reassemble those 2 pieces because they're in the way of the coolant leak?

ok thanks again

 

by the way, the coolant reservoir is like supposed to be at least 10 ounces down anyway, it is not supposed to be topped off to the brim, according to this experienced mechanic who was a Dale E. Sr. fan. If it's topped off it will shower when hot. There's a dip stick in the coolant reservoir for a reason. The wet coolant is to stop at the top-most marking on that dip stick. thanx again

 

any type of addative to stop leaks is like tape it gets old ,sometimes they work sometimes they don't , ,a radiator is like $60.00 if its that ,? did he tell where its leaking from

 

I still have no idea what is leaking. You coolant system is made up of a bunch of part. The radiator, radiator cap. over flow reservoir, the water pump, heater core, the hoses, the coolant flows through the engine block, cylinder heads, thermostat and Thermostat housing and intake. All of those parts have gaskets or seals between them.

There is no "fair" price for a coolant leak repair. If your engine block is cracked you are looking a 3-4k to repair it if a hose clamp is loose if should not cost more than $25. You can not even come up with a "fair" price for a water pump. A 3800 water pump should not be more the $250 but a LT1 water pump might be $800.

There is no way we can tell if you are getting a fair deal unless we know exactly what is leaking. "It leaking between the water pump and the engine block" "its leaking from the weep hole in the water pump" There is a lot of covers in your car but the are none named coolant system cover. So when you say coolant system cover we have no idea what you are talking about.

So the new mechanic told you the other sealant don’t work well and put a different sealant in your car? Some advice, find a mechanic that says “I am not putting any of that crap in your car, if you want me to fix the car I will fix it”. Then he should add, you really should not drive it till it is fixed”. That is the mechanic you want to keep. You don’t have to listen to him that that is what a good mechanic should say.
Did you already have K-seal in your car? So now you have 2 different products plugging up your engines coolant passages?

 

yea i know based on the product customer service reviews of all sealants that it has flaws and is like only a band aid. this is not an easy to repair leak they could have easily said it's a 60 dollar radiator. or its a weep hole or a water pump. this has been looked at by 3 differernt mechancis the last one said wait 3 days after i put sealant on it. the 3rd day bring it back and i will heat up the engine to see where its leakin with the proper equipment. there's no surprise this hard to reach leak was quoted at eff in 800 bucks

 

i don't know what's leaking either, its behind some crap thats why its 800 bucks. it is behind some covers etc. i am taking it to this older mechanic the 3rd day after he put some sealant in my radiator. he told me to return on the 3rd day so he could evaluate the problem better after putting in sealant then i guess heating up the car to see where the leak is coming from. good luc with that: finding a good mechanic is like finding a nice And competent lawyer.

and if u do find one they are so busy that they have to farm out work and don't really have the time to focus on your car even if ur car means the world to u.
by the way,
all the mechanics i go to have a 5 out of 5 star yelp . com or other on line review site reviews by customers

thanks

 

*Hi, Gorn. I always welcome your experienced advice and thank you. I just got fed up and called my mechanic prior to the current one that quoted me 800 bucks--and asked him to specifically explain it to me: it (the coolant) is leaking from the "timing cover.....which leads to the engine, which means it has to be taken apart and put back together which is lots of work"

also purpose of the sealant applied by this 3rd more experienced mechanic and to see him in 3 days is for Diagnosis of the problem, he will heat up the engine on the 3rd day. it might not be a problem in his expert opinion to drive it within those 3 days, in fact he added not to add any coolant to it until he saw it again on the 3rd day *

 

he put dye in it then good ,he will look with a light for the dye to see where the leak is ,this one is doing it right so far ,your right about finding a good mech though ,there either spot on or not. over worked either by a boss or themselves ,you will know for sure ,with mine they put dye in it but could not see it ,it was such small leak ,yours should stand right out ,now we are getting somewhere

 

thanx 95 406; it's in the worse possible place: near the timing cover / belt; lots of taking a part and putting back together--labor-intensive. i might as well had 1 blown head gasket that was replaced that's how costly this repair is. but we do the best with what we're given.

I try to focus on the good---I found the problem before it got worse--before it overheated (which it never ever overheated), causing Irreparable, prohibitively expensive (like in the $3,000 range) cracks in the engine block.

I caught it in the preventive care stage.

"....Cars they're mechanical devices, they break down, you put them back together....they're sold...goods in the market place. " --Mr. McGrath, auto shop teacher from the '78 film, "Corvette Summer'

 

sounds like it ,keep your fingers crossed an hope its just there in that spot ,but yes ,you may want to tell them about other stuff that was put in it too,your at that point where for a lot of people the gaskets get weak,if you get a chance you should do them all heads manifold oil covers ,some guys that work on there own do them around a 100.000 couse they read about the issues with the gm gaskets,i need to think about it with mine as I get to 90k + now