coolant leak turned into 2000 dollar bill **HELP**

[specialized7]

well not to happy my explorer with 300 000kms didnt have as many problems as this new one with half the kms.

now i know never to buy a ohv again.

Anyways me and my dad looked it over and from what we can tell its the lower intake gasket.
well anyways i drop it off at the shop and i get a call this morning.
there saying my water pump is leaking, timing chain cover, and intake gasket.

first off i think they looked under the hood and seen that there is some staining on the water pump. therefor they think its leaking, but its not.

i can see the timing chain cover leaking but from what i have read it would be leaking oil also. its not leaking any oil at all.

im really freaking out right now, what would you guys do in a situation like this?
they said to take the front timing chain cover off they have to drop the diff and oil pan and thats 9 hrs labour.

 

[robertoa1a]

$2000 will buy a lot of tools. Is there a reason why you took it to a shop?

 

[specialized7]

well i dont have a garage and its starting to get cold, if it was summer i would tackle this job, but do you have to drop the dif and all that to get the timing chain cover off?
i think the guy is trying to shaft me, would these 3 things actully all go at the same time?

 

[jremington59]

What do they get, 150 per hour, lol.

If I weren't going to do it myself I'd sure get estimates from somewhere else. For that price you might better drop a new engine in it.

Is the waterpump making any noise? Did you see if there's any play?

 

[robertoa1a]

Im not real clear on what the origonal problem is but $2k buys a nother X.

Are you losing fluid or having timing chain noise or both. If its timing chain noise then there are a bunch of good existing threads on that. If you are trying to figure where your fluid is going then use autozones presure tester. And if all you need is an intake gasket then I would assume that you would expect to pay $50 to $75 /hr x 3.5 hours labor + gasket. I wish someone rented garages.

 

[konaboy]

I'd be getting a second opinion!!! Sounds a bit steep, heck you can probably get another engine for that cost.

 

[specialized7]

^^ thats exactly what i said.
anyways went back to the shop, with an attitude and the whole story changed.
First thing i said is " i want my truck back" then he starts telling me that the timing cover isnt really leaking but its gonna.
the major leak is the lower intake gasket.
and somehow hes trying to get me to get a new thermostat.
never said anything about a waterpump this time, my dad checked it out and its fine, same with the thermostat.
so im taking it to a different shop, on monday.
how hard is it to change the lower gasket on a ohv?

 

[robertoa1a]

I would go in there with a big hammer and smash all thier crack pipes and shop for an honest mech. I would think a good one would be happy with $250. There are people out of work.

 

[specialized7]

ya but not in canada. i wouldnt be surprised if the guy was just squirting coolant all over my engine and saying it was leaking.
they even charged me for coolant, but when i went to drive it home i had to fill it up again.

 

[robertoa1a]

I would be looking for a friend or family member who is willing to lend you their garage for a weekend and buy a repair manual. like most people I only know mechanics in my area. Clear your head a while then read similar threads.

In these times its easy to want to use a stop leak product. I don't recommend them but I do keep some in case of emergency. They can clog the radiator and coat the sensors.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Drop the diff? I changed the water pump on my Ex and had the timing cover off and didn't remove the diff... I think I have a pic of it off at home if it helps...

The lower intake gasket isn't hard, just a little time consuming. You can do it on a Saturday.

 

[specialized7]

hey if you have a pic that would be great, i think this guy is a bullshitter. i might tackle the job tomorrow if i can find enough info.

 

[smurfxlt]

almost the same thing happened to me! all of a sudden my truck started spraying like a gallon a minute of coolant and i couldnt find where it was coming from because there was so much. i brought it to the shop so they could tell me where it was coming from and they told me the timing cover gasket, and wanted 500 bucks to do it! long story short i told them to give me my truck back, brought it to a real shop and they did the water pump for less than half that. the sad part was i put the water pump in 2 weeks before that and it was defective

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

The unemployment rate in Sask is like 5%...nobody is desperate...

Stamps rule! SEE YOU SOON!

 

[budwich]

well... I think people have seen a lot of posts in and around this type of problem.

First off.... IF your front cover is leaking, it doesn't need to be leaking oil, to be leaking water... there is a channel area that covers a portion of the water channel.... which is a candidate for leaks.... lots of posts. IF that is the case, to remove the cover, you have to lift the engine in "some form" BECAUSE there two bolts at the bottom of the cover that are "obstructed" by the oil pan which can't be taken off / moved without "some thing happen at the engine". Hence, their statement isn't bogus. Of course to take the front cover off, there is other stuff that needs to be remove... hence the job ain't cheap.

Next, lots of post on leaks in an OHV of the intake gaskets being leaking with in some form. Typically, this involves removing the lower intake which again means removal of a "lot of stuff" and probably 6-8 hours of shop effort... which again will cost alot. I have been "anguishing" over this for a long while as my ohv has the problem. I have the gasket set ($80 us, I bought from the states cause canada prices are terrible)... but am concerned about removing all the "stuff" and causing other issues (ie. breaking old parts / sensors making the costs to repair even higher .. this is on a 96). Further after doing all the intake work... you might actually find out that the front cover is your problem, and then you still have to "waste" some more time and money.

For now, I used "stop leak" in the rad. It worked and has been running about for the last two years fine with no leaks where as before it was leaking down the front driver's side of the block about a puddle of 1 foot diameter / day. I tried a "dye job" to track the source but wasn't really able to tell where the leak actually is... hence the quandry.

I would try the stop leak and think about things for a bit but I don't think what the shop has told you is totally out of this world. Again, lot's of post and the problem isn't going to be cheap to address "right" especially in canada. Good luck

 

[specialized7]

Hey thanks alot for the write up, that made a lot of sence.
im hoping its just going to be the timing cover and the intake gasket.
i was going to use some stop leak but it leaks so bad, that i dont think it would work.
if i fill the rad up, drive it say 2 kms, i will be a liter short on coolant.
so its leaking pretty bad.
i think ill have this all straightened out on monday.... Hopefullly

 

[specialized7]

Well took it to the guy who worked on my other explorer and he pressure checked the system.
Turns out its only my intake gasket leaking!!
He has to take the valve covers off at the same time so hes going to change them also.
$199 for an upgraded gasket set + labour
=$550
approx
Woooo hooo!!

 

[specialized7]

well turned out being a 695 dollar job.
he said that it looks like someone had had that intake apart and they put some rtv on the gasket.
he even showed me it.
anyways so its all fixed running good, had 2 slight issues thou.
picked it up drove it home then was going out to my dads to change the oil and the check engine light came on?
anyways no signs of anything being wrong so i take it to my dads and pull the negative battery cable off.
Now check engine light is off and hasent came back on?
what could that be?
also right after the check engine light came on, i was stopped at a light and when i went to go it shifted kind of funny.
anyways everything is back to normal but what was happening there?