Who agrees with this diagnosis?

[N20LT4Bird]

Often times, other teachers in my building bring in cars to have the kids work on or look at. The phys ed teacher had his 96 Lumina in because the trans was slipping. Checked the fluid and it was down. Put more fluid in, no more slipping. Got it on the lift and checked for leaks. Nothing... bone dry. So, I pulled the radiator cap, and sure enough the cooler was puking fluid into the cooling system. So, I sent him away to get radiator and a GOOD flush (because we dont have a machine or any way of disposing of that mess).

He brought it to a "friend" who was a manager at a shop. He replaced: the radiator, upper & lower hoses, heater hoses, water pump, thermostat, flushed cooling system and flushed the tranny. All this to the tune of over 700 bucks!

This is tranny fluid! Not battery acid. I could see the tranny flush - J.I.C. maybe? , but the thermostat / water pump? C'mon? Tell me he wasnt taken advantage of. "Here, buy these gloves, just in case it might get cold here in the sahara desert"

[wolfdogs]

could be......but he may have worried, depending on concentration level, that the tranny fluid would cause damage to the seals that would lead to premature failure.......

[BAS]

Re: Who agrees with this diagnosis?

The radiator from GM would be about $300.
$200 if YOU walk into a parts store. Probably $80 on a junkyard.

$250 + hoses $80 + water pump $60 + fluids $30 about $400 parts...

probably 6 hours or so labor..

$700 sounds like a steal.

Originally posted by N20LT4Bird
Often times, other teachers in my building bring in cars to have the kids work on or look at. The phys ed teacher had his 96 Lumina in because the trans was slipping. Checked the fluid and it was down. Put more fluid in, no more slipping. Got it on the lift and checked for leaks. Nothing... bone dry. So, I pulled the radiator cap, and sure enough the cooler was puking fluid into the cooling system. So, I sent him away to get radiator and a GOOD flush (because we dont have a machine or any way of disposing of that mess).

He brought it to a "friend" who was a manager at a shop. He replaced: the radiator, upper & lower hoses, heater hoses, water pump, thermostat, flushed cooling system and flushed the tranny. All this to the tune of over 700 bucks!

This is tranny fluid! Not battery acid. I could see the tranny flush - J.I.C. maybe? , but the thermostat / water pump? C'mon? Tell me he wasnt taken advantage of. "Here, buy these gloves, just in case it might get cold here in the sahara desert"

[N20LT4Bird]

The price was O.K for the work. My beef was with the fact that he really didnt NEED all that stuff. If you flushed it out good, he could have gotten away with a radiator and a flush. I can see wolfmans point, but I highly doubt that the tranny fluid caused damage to the seals in the w.p. Trans fluid is not that corrosive to begin with. There are all kinds of o rings in a tranny. If it did damage it, fix it when it leaks; its not gonna blow out like old faithful all over the place. I know it didnt soften the hoses, because I felt them myself. Its not that big a deal, but just another example of why you should do your own work.

I just got a letter in the mail for a recall on my wrangler. I am thinking I want to just go in and ask for the part and install it myself..... you never know.