3 hours labour quoted for fitting new radiator,

[Sir Brixalot]

Seems a bit OTT to me, garage said very time consuming as bumper has to come off. I thought bumper was only held on with a few bolts. It seems a straightforward job really according to Haynes. If Anyone with recent experience could advise on labour time that a garage should charge I'd be grateful

[itchyfeet]

no bumper stays on, that sounds alot to me a garage should have that done in an hour in my opinion

[itchyfeet]

from memory,
spare wheel out,
rods that hold wheel down need to come off, clip on one end then pull them out, spar wheel holder also comes off with these,
grilles off,
disconnect thermoswitch wiring,
remove hoses and drain coolant.
remove brackets that support rad and it drops out.

[Sir Brixalot]

I was thinking it'd be about an hour. Perhaps they didn't want the job, it seems that local mechanics don't like to work on them.

[itchyfeet]

can't you do it yourself?

[CJH]

I was thinking it'd be about an hour. Perhaps they didn't want the job, it seems that local mechanics don't like to work on them.

You'll probably spend the best part of an hour just refilling and bleeding the cooling system.

[Sir Brixalot]

I thought of just doing it myself but have to do any work it on street with cars flying past and need to cough up for axel stands/ramps. Still thinking of it as I like doing my own work. Should these later models be self bleeding?

[itchyfeet]

read Baxters bleeding guide, yes you may spend an hour bleeding but a garage shouldn't do.

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/bleed ... 29710.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[itchyfeet]

I'm not sure if you have to get the van up to get the rad out, would make life a bit easier but you can do that by jacking up and lowering wheels onto some blocks of wood or breeze blocks, it's what I do, I don't like axel stands, unless you are working on the brakes and wheel has to be off.

have even seen people drive onto the kerb one side then jack the other and lower the wheel onto the spare wheel on it's side, not much weight in the front to damage it.

have a look at the pics on this page..
http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/gearb ... page1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghost123uk]

I did ours (about 3 years ago) on a local disused car park.

Took about an hour, (there were no complications). The hardest bit is lying on your back attempting to line up the studs on the rad that fit into the rubber grommets (or were the studs on the van and grommets on the rad, either way ) as the rad is quite heavy (and I "only" had Gill to help ) Itchy has the procedure right as far as I remember.

Bleeding is required, but it doesn't take long once you understand it. I did it a lot a good few years ago after mucking up my entire cooling system when LOADS of oil got in via a knackered seal in the old engine.

[ghost123uk]

p.s = From another (recent post of mine) =

It is surprising how quickly one can become at bleeding after doing it a few times. One trick I used, esp as the engine was already hot, was to re-fill, fit the dalek, start motor, drive a bit or have a fag, then carefully slacken slightly the bleed bolt on the rad. The pressure that should have built up (hot engine) allows any air to be forceably ejected. When water starts coming out, re-tighten, but repeat the procedure a couple of times between drain and re-fills. This avoids all that "rev to 3,000 rpm, then loosen" business (which takes 2 folk).

Now, don't do what I did once. Whilst doing the above "hot, pressurised" bleeding, I undid the bleed screw on the rad too far, came out and a powerful fountain of very hot water shot out, hit the bodywork and sprayed all over me. Luckily I was unhurt. Just crack the bolt, don't unscrew it too far !

[royt28]

if they wamt to take the bumper off, walk away & find another garage pref with t25 knowlege

[lloydy]

i think you will find it very hard to find a garage to do a rad change for a hours labour, there would just be no point in it for them. By them saying 3 hours i would say they are basically giving you their 'rate' for doing the job. Maybe they could madly rush through the job in 1 hour. You'd then be left with a poorly bled system and moaning they did a rubbish job. Whats the labour cost? £50ph? Would you really expect a garage to change a rad for just £50? Man, some people charge more than that to reset a fault code!

[itchyfeet]

good point^^^

[Sir Brixalot]

I dunno about Cheam but even in London £65 an hour isn't a bad wage and another garage has sad that they can do it. The bleeding is pretty straightforward and I do it every time there is a change to the levels. I had read somewhere that the later models were self bleeding and I wondered whether that was the case