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This reminds me of an 85 Buick Century wagon my mother owned about 12 years ago. It had a very small coolant leak, small enough that I couldn't find it, but the reservoir needed topping about once a month. She took it to a shop for an estimate, and came home in tears. They'd put the car up on a lift, and walked away from it for 2 hours. She watched the car the entire time. When she finally asked the shop manager about it, he said that 2 of his techs had been looking at it the entire time. When she called his bluff, the manager walked out to the car, turned around, came back inside, and told her it needed a new water pump. He told her the pump was a dealer-only item, at more than $300, and that the entire engine would have to be pulled to install it, at a labor cost of over $500. He expected her to pay well over $800 for a water pump in a $1500 car.
I told her to stop crying, that I'd fix it, and called AutoZone. The most expensive water pump they listed was brand-new (not rebuilt) at $35. I went out to the Buick, pulled the belt, pulled the bolts, and the pump, and hit the road. I had to drive all the way across town (Durham, NC), picked up the new pump and a bottle of gasket shellac, drove back home, and installed the new pump. Total time, start to finish, including the drive, was just over 2 hours.
I cornered the shop manager about it the next day. He stood by his quote. I told him about the AutoZone pump, and he said they only use "factory parts". This was an indy shop, and they had Advance boxes all over the place. When I asked about pulling the engine, he said that was the only way to do the job, that the bolts wouldn't clear the strut tower otherwise. I informed him that it came out just fine by leaving the bolts in the holes in the water pump till the pump was removed, and he said "well, that'll work, but I wouldn't do it that way".
Some guys think they have to make the whole mortgage payment off one customer all at once. I hate that sort of crap.
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1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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