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NA radiator top tanks

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:13 pm
by OMY005
Anyone with one 10yrs older or more should consider this as preventative maintenance. I had mine replaced last week because it looked a bit suspicious. All discoloured and some crazing of the surface. I took the old one home for a closer inspection and squeezed it very lightly and this is what happened. :shock: Glad I had it done before hand.

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(Now for the rant)

Just don't get ripped off for the job like I did. I rang around a few places and they all quoted between $150-$160 the place I went to said $120 ($80 labor & $40 tank)and was very close by. Dropped it off and about 2hrs latter rang and said it was ready.

$195 :shock: :shock: He said the tanks usually cost $40 but this one was $80 plus $16 for the gasket and then GST neither of these were mentioned in the quote over the phone. He said I when I rang for a quote I only asked to have the top tank replaced. One would assume all the parts required and GST would be given in a quote to do the job properly. So if you don't want to be ripped off, PM me and I'll tell you who to avoid.

(End of rant)


Andrew. :)

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:29 am
by Astroboysoup
I paid $140 for mine.

Clean and replace the top tank.

I ripped the radiator out of the car for them to save a bit of money.

Its only held down by 4 bolts and too about 15 mins to rip out and saved me $40

Re:

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:02 am
by OMY005
Astroboysoup wrote:I ripped the radiator out of the car for them to save a bit of money.


That's what I did, I just gave him the radiator out of my car and I still get ripped. :x I wonder how some people stay in business with customer service like that.

Andrew.

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:34 pm
by Matty
FWIW I replaced mine a few years ago when it developed a small leak, they cleaned the core out too, but a few months later I replaced the whole core because it was overheating. (problem solved with a new radiator)

So consider going the whole hog rather than just doing the top tank...

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:03 pm
by JBT
OTOH, I had my top tank replaced (same cracking as OMY005) over 3 years ago and no probs with the radiator since. Previous owners had kept the coolant in good condition though so there was no \"mud\" in the system.