Opti Replace--WOW!!

[Donne Trav]

Well, I had the opti replaced, after being a little stupid this past
weekend, washing the engine. Job was done at the chevy dealership
in MD. up off rte. 29. Total cost: $1353.26. *&%^&%$#% WOW!!
Parts: $883.50. Labor: $481.00
OPTI: $789.39 %$#&$^$ ..it! Are you F-ing kidding me?!

Coolant: $18.00(??)
When all was said and done, I was just happy to get my ride back.
Car was running great on the way home, until I started to smell
coolant.

Pulled over, popped the hood, saw a little steam just
above the water pump and around the small water hoses. Also, some
coolant had leaked on the ground. I had never seen coolant this color
before. It was brownish and looked to be mostly water. Now I'm really
pissed. Continuing on the way home, it started to run hot then cool and
hot again. This seemed to happen at the traffic lights. Then suddenly,
temp went down to about where the 1/4 mark is on the guage and the
SERVICE ENG. SOON light came on. Got home popped the hood, no more
leaking or steam??? When I restarted the engine, no more SERV. ENG. SOON light?? Meanwhile, this AM, everything looked normal on the way
to the job (temp, etc.). I'm still concerned about the color of the $18
coolant. I thought it should be "greenish" or "pinkish" in color. Can
somebody give me some input on those seemingly wild prices? Also,
a reasonable explanation on what took place on my trip home (bad) and
on the way to work (good) this AM. Sorry about the length of this saga.
Thanks All.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Sounds like they didn't bleed the coolant system. The mechanic forgot to unscrew the two petcocks on the top hoses when he put the new(?) coolant in.

 

[Rogue]

Well, coolant is either yellow or almost neon green in color if it is the standard coolant, or reddish brown if it is GM Dexcool coolant. If you have it on your hand, it should be almost like water (ie. thin but slippery). Don't judge coolant when it is already on the ground. Check your coolant color/level from your coolant overflow reservoir. You can check it hot or cold and the levels should be different depending on engine temp.

If you are in doubt if the coolant was properly replaced, don't take it back there anymore! Changing coolant in a C4 is relatively easy. The drain plugs are right underneath the radiator. After draining, flush with water hose, then refill. Don't forget to clean the coolant overflow reservoir (remove, drain, flush, then re-install). Have some other shop do it and tell them why and that you will check their work. Buy and give them your own coolant mixture so you know which color they are using.

 

[93Rubie]

Sounds like they didn't bleed the coolant system. The mechanic forgot to unscrew the two petcocks on the top hoses when he put the new(?) coolant in.

I agree, sounds like you had some major air pockets and being the LT1 is reverse flow, that doesn't sound good for it. On another note I don't understand why some mechanics/technicians don't test drive and check their work before a vehicle leaves. Especally, something like a new distributor and haveing the cooling system open.

Heck, I had a Ford Fusion here today and it had all kinds of goofy codes and the guy was complaining that it was hard to start at times and the lights flicker, well the battery was junk so I replaced it under warranty. To cover my butt and check myself, I ran a self test on every system/component via the scan tool that I had codes for all passed with flying colors. I even test drove the car to just make sure it was performing right. Heck, I even did a parasitic draw test to make sure I didn't have one of those, bad guys. The car is an 07 and has only 8000 miles on it. I was covering my butt because the guy had been here before and we have never found anything wrong according to the history on the car. Then again being an 07 with only 8000 miles, it might help if the guy drove it once in a while. Heck, I put more miles than that on in 3 years on my Vette.

 

[CLABORN1960]

Find a good mechanic and only go to the dealership as the last resort..... unless of course your good mechanic is at said dealership....

 

[vetteboy86]

I only own one vehicle that requires Dex-Cool. It is a bright red-ish pink color.

 

[kenmack]

If you aren't happy ??!!

GO BACK TO THE DEALER AND RAISE *&$#%#.ad

AT THAT COST IT BETTER BE PERFECT AT NO EXTRA COST.:eyerole

My estimate is the dealer cleared profit around $500.00 on you bill.
HE CAN AFFORD to make it RIGHT!!!!!

 

[surfer93]

2 dumb moves back to back, ouch!!!!!!!!!
I always go over a car before leaving any shop, call them and tell them to fix it. :bash
Good luck!!
Still can't see tap water taking the opti out, I go through huge puddles all the time and I had cut out once and it started up an hour later.

 

[air1jpg]

I only own one vehicle that requires Dex-Cool. It is a bright red-ish pink color.

Wouldn't the "all color" coolant work?

 

[Crimson Thunder]

GO BACK TO THE DEALER AND RAISE *&$#%#.ad

AT THAT COST IT BETTER BE PERFECT AT NO EXTRA COST.:eyerole

My estimate is the dealer cleared profit around $500.00 on you bill.
HE CAN AFFORD to make it RIGHT!!!!!

I bet they profitted more than that. A new Opti from Jegs costs less than $300.00 and it should take a competent GM mechanic less than 4 hours to change it out although I have no idea what the hourly rate for a dealer mechanic is these days.

 

[Rogue]

$100 per hour I would think....

Mid-America sells Opti's for $300. They also sell a brand new HEI distributor for $319.

 

[92BlackVette]

Sounds like they installed the Opti which has the special gold plating.

 

[joshwilson3]

Wouldn't the "all color" coolant work?

There is no "all color" coolant. You must be talking about Prestone? That is a Dexcool clone. If you have a car that came with green coolant. Then DON'T put Prestone in unless you want to put a Dexcool clone in it.

 

[Kenny]

Advance Auto Parts Brand , Peak, Prestone all make a long life coolant that will mix with all brands and all color of coolant. Mixing green with dexcool will result in much decreased corrosion protection. Prestone also makes orange dexcool

 

[air1jpg]

So I am considering changing my coolant in my '96 this year myself, should I put orange dexcool back in it or use the Prestone all-color coolant?

 

[Kenny]

I do not use dexcool. I had the intake gasket leak on my Blazer because of dexcool. there has been a class action law suit because of this on several GM vehicles but not the blazer. I do use the long life coolant as it will not require replacement as soon a the green stuff

 

[Rogue]

Dexcool IS the long life coolant. It is used in all GM Vehicles since 2000 I'm guessing. My suspicion is your intake gasket leaked because of some other reason.

Coolant is only "harmful" when it is not changed over a long period of time.

 

[thford89]

Take it back and raise hell! when you pay that much you expect it to be right and yet the dealership never gets it right. I had mine replaced twice in a month by a dealership and still kept dieing. Along with that i had a cracked radiator and they told me it was fine. I bought a new all aluminum radiator and a accell opti and have had no more problems after i put it in myself with no experience with working on a LT1

 

[Black Bart]

If you drain out the green and fill with the orange without flushing first you will have a Brown gooey looking coolant.

Dealer screwed up but if you take it back they will find a reason to charge you $$$$$$$$ to fix their screw-up.

You need to ask around find out where their is a good mechanic.

 

[G Winter]

My opion of the dexacool is that it is junk. My 2006 Grand Prix with 80k on it almost totally quit throwing heat. I back flushed the heater. When I turn on the water pressure the hose bulged, then there was a blubbering sound a slime came out into my bucket.
Once the weather gets warmer the dexacool is coming out. Hope the radiator is cleanable.

Glenn