Hi,
Yesterday after a drive we noticed a coolant leak. The garage tells us we have a blocked heater core and want to charge $700 to fix.
I asked them why the heater core would have caused a leak when (in the Las Vegas summer) we only use air con, not the heater. He said that the water still needs to circulate. I asked him if he could bypass the heater core and he said that it could cause problems if we do that.
We still have not told the garage what we want them to do. I get the feeling that we just have a loose hose, or that maybe the heater core can be unblocked by simply flushing it through. Is it possible that the garage just want to charge us $700 to do unnecessary work?
Any words of wisdom please?
James

 

Maybe...u can flush the heat core with a hose. Just disconnect and force the water through both sides of the core until it comes out clear.if nothing comes out u need a new one ..( only if u want the heater ) if not bypass it.

 

Thanks very much for arming me with some useful information.

 

There's no way that's a 700 dollar job.

You can bypass it for free. It won't cause one single problem.

Plus, if the heater core is clogged it would cause it to bypass thru the heater control valve anyways.

That guy is trying to get over on you. Go somewhere else.

Are you not capable of checking under the hood and seeing where the leak is coming from? This could be a five minute free fix...

 

this isn't very good my uncle owns a shop in las vegas i'm sure he could give you a great deal he's very honest, wanna look him up?

 

was it leaking inside the Jeep or outside?

 

Devils in the details.......if the heater core is leaking, then the entire dash must be removed to replace it. If u go to the time and expense to remove the dash, u might as well replace both the heater core AND a/c evaporator, that's next to the heater core, or else u'll be removing the dash again to replace the other. If $700 includes parts and labor, it might be a steal. Removing dashes is not fun and yes a heater hose can be looped. Spend some time looking under the hood.....run a hose from the t-stat cover to the water pump....there's your cheap-out loop. Do we know what the t-stat cover and water pump look like?

 

Blocked heaters don't leak! block heaters don't heat!
Tell him to bypass it and give him $20 for that.

 

Really?......as in never.....it's impossible? ROTF,LMAO.

 

Recently I replaced evaporator and it took long time because I did it first time.
It would take 2 hours for experienced mechanic.
I would say 300 labor, heater core is about $50, check autozone.com + $20 antifreeze.
Prices depend on area, and NewYork repair shop would charge much more than some small town shop.

 

Hey, nice bike! Is 120 HP enough for you?
It goes probably 160 MPH.

 

Maybe we have a mechanic on here that will look up the repair/shop time, in their book, that says how long replace an XJ heater core. 2 hours just seems a little short.

 

Not when I'm on it.

 

Bypassing the heater core can cause rust to form and will be a PIA once you try to use it again.

Flushing with high pressure will cause more leaks.

Bypassing it is a quick fix you can use if you are definitely gonna replace it.

The job does take a while as you have to pull out the dash to access it. So it does take some hours they are more than likely using a mac chart and going by what the books says for hours. Probably by the book and 8 hour job with parts I can see how they charge 700. A good mech could probably do it in 4 hours but they will still charge you the 8 from the chart.

Sucks but that is what this world is coming too.

 

There we go.