Radiator Replacement Report
#1
06-28-2005, 02:02 AM
Radiator Replacement Report
My son's 1995 GLT 850 radiator developed a leak along a seam in the plastic coolant (passenger side) tank. I tried various methods of fixing the leak -- all failed.
I called several shops in Atlanta to determine the cost of replacing the radiator and the two primary hoses. A new radiator, from the local source, was about $225, the hoses $55, and the labor, estimated at 2 1/2 hours, was $185. Add intax, and the cost was in the neighborhood of $465 plus tax from everyone I asked -- 7.5% tax, say, $490 total. These were good quality shops, and people I'd trust my car to.
Since this is a ten-year-old car, however, that my son drives a couple of miles to school and friends' houses in downtown Atlanta, spending that kind of money on a repair was less than attractive. So I considered the alterative -- Dad and Son labor.
I bought a radiator for $176 and hoses for $35, delivered, from eeuroparts.com. I broke a transmission coolant line clamp that cost me another $6 to replace at Voluparts on Howell Mill Rd. ($13 from Volvo dealer.) I had a couple of gallons of antifreeze I had bought at Pep Boys for $8. So I'm now at $225 for raw parts.
Radiator and hoses arrive. I take out my Haynes Manual, check volvospeed.com and every other site I can find, and go to work. I decided on to remove the fan and take the radiator out from the top, rather than from the bottom. (After I finished, I would conclude that either approach would have worked.) Working carefully, and making sure that the dogs did not get into any waste radiator fluid or that I ruined the concrete, I finished the whole job in less than two hours. Add in the time it took to order, receive and pick up parts, and the total had to come in less than four hours. I was amazed at how straightforward the replacement was. The tools were all garden variety metric stuff.
$265 for four hours of work is worth the effort, especially since my son and I did it together. This is one repair that you should not be afraid of; the plumbing is simple, and the replacement parts are foolproof. Even for a goof like me.
JM
I called several shops in Atlanta to determine the cost of replacing the radiator and the two primary hoses. A new radiator, from the local source, was about $225, the hoses $55, and the labor, estimated at 2 1/2 hours, was $185. Add intax, and the cost was in the neighborhood of $465 plus tax from everyone I asked -- 7.5% tax, say, $490 total. These were good quality shops, and people I'd trust my car to.
Since this is a ten-year-old car, however, that my son drives a couple of miles to school and friends' houses in downtown Atlanta, spending that kind of money on a repair was less than attractive. So I considered the alterative -- Dad and Son labor.
I bought a radiator for $176 and hoses for $35, delivered, from eeuroparts.com. I broke a transmission coolant line clamp that cost me another $6 to replace at Voluparts on Howell Mill Rd. ($13 from Volvo dealer.) I had a couple of gallons of antifreeze I had bought at Pep Boys for $8. So I'm now at $225 for raw parts.
Radiator and hoses arrive. I take out my Haynes Manual, check volvospeed.com and every other site I can find, and go to work. I decided on to remove the fan and take the radiator out from the top, rather than from the bottom. (After I finished, I would conclude that either approach would have worked.) Working carefully, and making sure that the dogs did not get into any waste radiator fluid or that I ruined the concrete, I finished the whole job in less than two hours. Add in the time it took to order, receive and pick up parts, and the total had to come in less than four hours. I was amazed at how straightforward the replacement was. The tools were all garden variety metric stuff.
$265 for four hours of work is worth the effort, especially since my son and I did it together. This is one repair that you should not be afraid of; the plumbing is simple, and the replacement parts are foolproof. Even for a goof like me.
JM
#5
10-05-2008, 11:18 AM
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