78vette78

so the other day i found out that my upper radiaor hose has a rip in it and it was leaking. i was goin to replace it my self but i got lazy and i want it done asap.

i got the hose replaced on this radiator shop. he replaced it and change my coolant ( I HOPE HE DID). he told me that my radiotor is old and clogged up and he will clean it up for $200. i said no because i think its working because if its really that bad my car would have been over heating already everytime i use it.

Does anybody think im right and the guy is jus trying to make extra money from me????????????

The way i see it ... why fix something if its not broken/working right.


pls tell me what you guys think

gerry72

By what means, other than your car isn't overheating, did you diagnose your radiator's condition? I'm not saying the shop isn't trying to upsell service to you, but if the radiator has never been serviced over the past 30 years, it's good preventive maintenance to have it professionally cleaned at this point. This perspective comes from my desire to stay ahead of the maintenance curve and not have problems on the road.

SIXFOOTER

All you have to do is look down inside the tank on the passenger side at the ends of the tubes. If they have a bunch of junk on them then your radiator is due a cleaning. Of course this should be done with the juice drained so you can see the bottom tubes. Flushing is easy, get the system flush GM sells, its the best out there and follow the instructions.

wcsinx

Are you honestly wondering if a 30 year old radiator might be a little dirty?

I really doubt your mechanic is lying to you, but $200 is stupid high for that. You can do it yourself no problem. But be warned often when you flush a radiator that old, you will open up leaks in it. That's why personally I'd just drop in a replacement.

78vette78

ic......... i guess ill get it done soon. once i have extra money. i barely drive the car anyways. maybe 4 to 5 times a month the most and not very far.


do u guys know the normal temperature???? my temp gues up to 200 the highest

Doinit Once

[QUOTE You can do it yourself no problem. But be warned often when you flush a radiator that old, you will open up leaks in it. That's why personally I'd just drop in a replacement.[/QUOTE]

Drop in may be a slight understatement.

wcsinx

I didn't think it was too bad a job on my C3. Of course, I did already have the hood off at the time.

bigredbrad

First off - I AM NOT TROLLING FOR BUSINESS with the following link. Only posting the link so you can see photos and get a better look at what the inside of your radiator really looks like. The radiator shop that quoted you $200 to clean out your radiator should have been doing something like this: Removing an end tank, rodding out each tube with a steel rod while under water pressure, and resolder each tube before putting the end tank back on. And, if you have a solid, rebuildable radiator, that is the going rate. It takes about 2-3 hours plus materials to do that job properly. Any good "old school" radiator shop that actually still repairs radiators should be able to do this job for you locally.

Check the pictures of the "brownie" collected in the bottom of the radiator tank in the second row of pictures. Just so you know. We flushed that radiator out of the car under high pressure for 5 minutes and that is how much crap is still inside after flushing!

Take this to the bank: No matter what you read on the plastic bottle, THERE IS NOTHING IN THE WORLD that will remove this corossion except manual cleaning.

Putting a quart of "magic juice" in your corvette will do nothing except make a mess in your driveway and lighten your wallet by $10.

If your radiator is not repairable, there is nothing better than a Dewitt's complete or a Dewitt's replacement core installed with your original tanks.

bigredbrad

http://www.deansradiator.com/RadiatorRestoration.html