Hey how's it going? My brother has a 1992 Chevy Camaro RS it's a v8 and 2 months ago the car was over heating really bad. We took it to the shop paying $600 which they said they replaced a fan, water pump, drained all the black coolent out. They didn't say anything about the radiator related to the over heating tempurture problem. I went back today cause the car was very smokey, leaking coolent, and the temp was over red lining. If you can please tell me what the problem is and any info that would be great. The mechanic says it's the radiator but, shouldn't they have fixed that? I just want to know if fixing the radiator is a part of what I payed $600 for. I feel like I'm getting scammed in a way and I paid way 2 much, or I talked to some friends and they told me that it could of been a little hole that started out and now it's big. I'm not saying that all car shops do this but I know that some do scam people by putting holes in there vehicels or damaging their cars in a very small way, then it get's into a big problem so they come back. But if you can help me in anyway it would be greatly appreciated.

p.s.- I'm a newbie about cars, so is my bro. We don't know 2 much and if you can please leave some comments, or any suggestions that would be great.

Thank you for your time,

Antonio

 

So was the car fixed for 2 months?

It is possible that if the cooling system was neglected long enough sludge in the radiator could mask a leak. Replacing or flushing the coolant could dislodge the sludge and the leak surfaces.

Or it could just be coincidence. This is a 13 year old car you've got.

BTW - A mechanic would have to be really stupid to sabotage a part on a vehicle that works with the system he just repaired. Comebacks are often a labor penalty to a mechanic. If anything they would sabotage another part of the car.

And about this sabotage paranoia, its not as rampant as most think. I've been in the business quite a while, and have never seen anyone sabotage any part on a vehicle. It might be a small independent out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere type shop occurence, but surely not in any chain shop or successful shop. I have however seen unnecessary or safeguard repairs due to difficult to diagnose problems or incompetence.

 

$600 isn't really a bad price to pay for what you had done, and if you now put a new radiator on it you can certainly have the piece of mind that your coolant system is brand new so you shouldn't have any more problems with it. There are a million shops out there if you find this one questionable use another. And remember you can always ask the mechanic why they did what they did, if it sounds like they are blowing smoke tell them so.

 

Get a new radiator and a new 180* thermostat.... If you are still have problems after that and the fan is woorking then look at a new heater core. It may be leaking and causing problems... Goodluck

 

request a 3 core radiator. i swapped out the 2 core in my monte (when it had the 305) and it never overheated again. 2 cores are total junk.

 

Thanks for all the information guys, it helps a lot. By the way what do you think is a good price for fixing a radiator at a shop? I know that labor charges is a lot but what do you guys personally think?