Dealership just called...need advice quick!!

[SHOnOFF]

Hey. I need some advice quick! I just got the estimate from the local ford dealership on my ATX and the antifreeze leak:

New Waterpump - covered under warranty ($50 deductible).

An SHO Specialist there (who also owns a sho himself) recommends:
New lower radiator hose & heater hose - $116 installed
New timing belt - $167 part + $78 labor
New serpentine belt - $100 part (no labor because the old belt is already off to replace the waterpump)
New Crank Sensor - $135 part (no labor)

Grand total = $116 for hoses + $480 for belts and sensor = $596 plus $50 deductible on waterpump.

What do you guys think? I just went to SHO Nut's website and compared prices. Only thing is, I'm only being charged one hour labor for the timing belt and no labor on the serp. belt or crank sensor. The hoses seem kinda high, too, but it might be worth my time/effort to let them drain it all out to replace the loser hose for that extra money.

Any advice you could offer would be great...I have to call this lady back soon. Thanks.

 

[luigisho]

If you want to pay top dollar go ahead. The waterpump warranty is nice but you could do the whole parts replacement yourself with aftermarket parts (except for Motorcraft lower hose)for around $150. So that's the comparison. Make your choice from there.

 

[SHOnOFF]

luigisho:
If you want to pay top dollar go ahead. The waterpump warranty is nice but you could do the whole parts replacement yourself with aftermarket parts (except for Motorcraft lower hose)for around $150. So that's the comparison. Make your choice from there.

$150? Even at Autozone, a timing belt was $53, serpentine was $18 or $32 (depending on which one I choose), $43 for crank sensor, hoses vary from $15-$30 each, plus the waterpump itself for another $50-$60. That adds up to about $260-$300 for parts. Then comes the labor into play...can I do the timing belt myself? Probably not. They already have the serp. belt off to replace the waterpump under warranty, so that would just be the part with no labor. Plus I'm not the most mechanically gifted individual...I mean, I can do stuff like brake jobs, spark plugs, and coolant hose replacements...but probably not a serpentine belt or timing belt.

One last thing - if the waterpump didn't leak onto the crank sensor causing it to go bad, do I really need to have it replaced (car has 90,700 miles and they want $135 to do it)? Just wondering. Thanks.

-Brian

 

[KazMan]

they will install the parts for you if you buy the aftermarket ones...or even if you have fordpartsnetwork overnight them to you. Dont pay dealership prices...huge ripoff.

 

[SHOnOFF]

KazMan:
they will install the parts for you if you buy the aftermarket ones...or even if you have fordpartsnetwork overnight them to you. Dont pay dealership prices...huge ripoff.

really?! that would be sweet. is the stuff from Fordpartsnetwork genuine oem motorcraft (brand new)?

I could order the 2 belts from SHO Nut and save $170 there and then get the lower rad hose & CPS from ford parts network and save like another $70 there. I'll ask them about it when I call back, I guess.

 

[shocrates]

$100 for an accessory belt. eek! All the prices are very excessive and fwiw,the timing belt must be removed before removing the waterpump. $646 boink

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I'm not near my PC that has the SLTS, but I'm pretty sure timing belt replacement labor is included in water pump labor. In any case, if you can't do the work yourself then your best bet would be to try to negotiate better parts pricing, or BYO parts (or find someone locally via the forum who will do the work for far less).

 

[luigisho]

I overlooked the acc. belts. My list shows timing belt at $35, both acc. belts for $22, waterpump at $40, h2o gasket $5, lower hose $13, crank sensor $43, and main seal at $9. So $167 (including crank seal that I didn't see listed in your project- so w/out $158) plus some shipping charges.
Many places, especially dealerships, won't want to install parts from elsewhere. Especially if they are stuff they carry normally.

 

[SHOnOFF]

luigisho:
I overlooked the acc. belts. My list shows timing belt at $35, both acc. belts for $22, waterpump at $40, h2o gasket $5, lower hose $13, crank sensor $43, and main seal at $9. So $167 (including crank seal that I didn't see listed in your project- so w/out $158) plus some shipping charges.
Many places, especially dealerships, won't want to install parts from elsewhere. Especially if they are stuff they carry normally.

thanks for looking that up for me. but i think those prices are for the mtx, right? you mentioned "both acc. belts"...the mtx has 2 but the atx only has one. the prices probably aren't far off, but just pointing that out.

yeah, i'm afraid they won't want to install my parts...BUT it's not like i'm asking them to install eibachs/konis or something...they're ford/motorcraft parts from SHO Nut and/or Ford Parts Network. (By the way, is the stuff from those 2 places genuine ford parts or motorcraft?) Thanks guys.

-Brian

 

[luigisho]

FPN and fordpartsonline are genuine ford parts not sure about Sho Nut as he gets parts from several places. Maybe you should run it by the garage before you pay for the parts.

 

[SHOnOFF]

luigisho:
FPN and fordpartsonline are genuine ford parts not sure about Sho Nut as he gets parts from several places. Maybe you should run it by the garage before you pay for the parts.

ok sweet. I wrote an e-mail to the sales dept. at FPN and he wrote me back within 5 minutes. the lower rad. hose is a motorcraft but the CPS is genuine ford. So I called the dealership back and asked them if they would install the parts if I brought them there...she asked if they were Ford parts and then put me on hold before coming back and saying Yes, that would do that. (no parts warranty, obviously, but 90 day labor warranty.)

Sooo...I'm gonna get the CPS from Ford Parts Network for $80 (instead of the dealership's $135), the Timing belt from Sho Nut for $69.42 (instead of $167) and the serp. belt for $27.16 (instead of $100). All in all, I'll be saving around $224 (minus shipping). Still, $200+ in savings definitely helps me out. Thanks for all your help guys!

-Brian

 

[TVSHO]

they will install the parts for you if you buy the aftermarket ones

Not at most Ford dealerships. The 2 Ford dealerships I deal with will not install any aftermarket parts (except tires).

I know it's a lot of $$ compared to doing it yourself...BUT for dealership pricing it's not bad. I priced the same stuff at the dealership (before I took it to FPS) and what you added up to $596 was more like $800+ at my dealership. My $.02.

Tom
'94 ATX

 

[SHOZ123]

whole parts replacement yourself with aftermarket parts (except for Motorcraft lower hose)

NAPA has a hose thqt will fit as a lower radiator hose. Cost about $8.00 or so. NAPA 7311

 

[SHOnOFF]

TVSHO:

they will install the parts for you if you buy the aftermarket ones

Not at most Ford dealerships. The 2 Ford dealerships I deal with will not install any aftermarket parts (except tires).

I know it's a lot of $$ compared to doing it yourself...BUT for dealership pricing it's not bad. I priced the same stuff at the dealership (before I took it to FPS) and what you added up to $596 was more like $800+ at my dealership. My $.02.

Tom
'94 ATX

Well, I don't want to mess with aftermarket stuff for the belts and CPS. I got genuine ford parts and they agreed to install them, so I'm cool with it.

Yeah, $596 might not be TOO bad (because they were cool enough to not charge labor for the serpentine belt or CPS and only 1 hour for timing belt)...but $396 sure sounds better to me. If you don't mind me asking, how much did FPS charge for that service you had them do? Thanks.

 

[SHOnOFF]

I just ordered all the parts from SHO Nut & Ford Parts Network (after confirming the part numbers, etc.). Parts come to $177 plus shipping for a total of $194 for the parts I bought online. Waterpump replacement is only costing me $50 deductible and I told them to go ahead and drain the system and replace the hoses for $116.

When all is said and done, it looks like I'll have a brand new waterpump, new radiator hoses, new timing belt, new serpentine belt, new CPS, and a drained/refilled coolant system...for about $460 ($194 for online parts + $255 to the dealership). Even with the shipping for the parts I ordered online, I'll be saving over $200 from what the dealership originally quoted (just because I chose to buy 3 parts myself instead of from them!) $460 for that doesn't seem TOO bad to me considering it's basically the lower 60k service (plus the hoses) and I already had the upper 60k done last year. Thanks for all your help guys...now I just gotta wait for the parts and then take them up to the dealership next week.

<small>[ January 03, 2003, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: SHOnOFF ]</small>

 

[TVSHO]

If you don't mind me asking, how much did FPS charge for that service you had them do?

Well...I had a lot of work done to the tune of $1800+. Full 60K, perf tune, some susp work, h20 pump, etc. FPS was about $450 less than the dealer and does better work.

Tom
'94 ATX

 

[luigisho]

Put in a new crank/front main seal while it's opened up. About 5 extra minutes.

 

[91 SHOplus]

SHOnOFF:
...$460 for that doesn't seem TOO bad to me considering it's basically the lower 60k service (plus the hoses) and I already had the upper 60k done last year.

Where'd you get the upper 60k done? SHO mechanics are in SHOrt supply in north NJ.

<small>[ January 03, 2003, 05:26 PM: Message edited by: 91 SHOplus ]</small>

 

[Yamaha V6]

Feel like making a trip to Massachusetts?

 

[SHOnOFF]

Yamaha V6:
Feel like making a trip to Massachusetts?

Actually, it's funny you should say that. Because that's what I pretty much had to do! Granted, I didn't go to Mass., but I DID drive 6+ hours up to upstate NY to have Mark N. do my upper 60k. That was quite a hike.

As far as NJ is concerned, yeah, there aren't too many SHO specialists around. For suspension work, I took my MTX to a guy near Atco Raceway (about 15 minutes from me) that has a shop called Radical Racing. He does mostly Mustangs but has worked on a lot of SHOs and did a great job with mine. Then there's this guy at Holman Ford in Mt. Laurel...he is a very well-trained (and reliable, from what I hear) SHO mechanic and has been maintaining another employee's SHO from Lockheed Martin (where I work) for the past 6 years. Plus he just recently bought himself a SHO, too. I'll let you know how he does on My car after I get it back (*fingers crossed*). wink

As far as north jersey, I know there's a place up there called Brunswick Auto Pros or something that deals with SHOs quite a bit. There's 2 owners...one of them, Bob, has 2 SHOs himself and they work on them all the time. I'm pretty sure that's what they're called...try looking them up if you need some work done up there. (I'm in South Jersey right outside Philly.) Good luck, 91SHOPlus.

Luigisho...should I ask that the dealership replace the crank/front main seal, too...or are they already planning on doing that since they're doing the CPS? The seal itself is probably pretty cheap if I need to get it, right? Man...but I already placed my order through SHO Nut and paid for it. crap.

-Brian