brad maurice

Ill try to be brief. I recently blew a head gasket. upon bringing my truck to the shop i learned my radiator was gone as well. and they also added i should replace the thermastat, serpentine belts, and plugs. for a gran total of 2600 tax included.My truck is a 95 toyota pickup 22re. 150k on the engine. body has no rot or rust. its a nice truck. so i want to keep it. However if im already spending this much is it worth it to get a hole new engine i figure labor is around a thousand and i found a 95 22re with 80k turn key swap for 600$. not sure what to do or even if my quote was accurate seems a bit much for even everything that was listed.


If this makes it easier...
BHG 1600
flushing the system,plugs,oil,airfilter 150
radiator and thermostat 850

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Get another estimate

Bojangles

Sounds like your mechanic is full of crap.
You could buy the thermostat, radiator, and belts for around 300 bucks and replace it all in about 2.5 hours.
A head gasket kit is between 100 and 300 bucks depending on where you get it from...

But i reckon it depends if you feel that your motor was reliable enough before the head gasket went...
You could do all the work yourself if your mechanically inclined and save A LOT of money.

snobdds

You could get a brand new engine for the price they want to fix just the Head Gasket.

That is a very high estimate.

Bojangles

^^^That was my thinking^^^

yotarob2005

You can replace your head gasket, radiator, water & oil pump, timing set and belts yourself for $400-$600. Do it your self, we will walk you through it.

brad maurice

how much in labor should it be to install a new engine?

richf

The price may be a little high fellas but the mans a mechanic not a charity. Everyone has to make money.

snobdds

If he's making that much money on a head gasket repair...then I am in the wrong business.

$850 for a new radiator and thermostat...that is highway robbery.

richf

I have no idea what a new radiator and thermo. cost but what do you think a fair price would be for that job?

Brad I would take yotatobs advice and do it yourself. It's really easy to do and shouldn't take you more than a weekend.

snobdds

Here is a radiator, 3 row heavy duty for $166, includes shipping.

http://radiatorbarn.com/cart.php

A new thermostat from the dealer is $40, for the two-valve style or $20 for the one valve.

New radiator fluid is $29 for one gallon of "Toyota" red
One gallon of distilled water is $2.00

Total for parts is 237.00, assumes the duel valve thermostat.

So we take 850 - 237 = 613, which represents his labor

If we assume his labor rate is $100 per hour, which is common these days.

Then we get 613/100 = 6.13 hours, which is what he is quoting to put in a radiator.

I think a fair price would be the $237 in parts plus one hour of labor, which would equal $337. He is quoting more than 2.5 times the amount I would consider fair.

JagerFiend

Worst your gonna do trying to fix it yourself it completely screw it up and be back to where you are now.

Youll be just fine doing that stuff yourself though.
Prices from my local u pull it:
Radiator- $25
Thermostat- $1.20

Local autozone:
Plugs: $3.99ea
Air filter- $5
Oil change- $17.99
Headgasket- $80-100

Grand Total- ~$165

Bojangles

We just got a math lesson!
And it was a lot more interesting than it was in school!!! Haha
Well put!

brad maurice

got a sad update. mechanic figured out why my head gasket blew. aparently my timing chain got so loose it wore a hole through the cover and the water pump causing antifreeze to get into my block. i was told you would be able to here when your timing chain is going i herd nothing the thing road like a champ until the second it blew. now i dont know what to do is it worth it to repair he existing engine whos to say i didnt damage the engine and its going to die againe once i fix it.