Shade Tree Mechanic

The radiator on my truck has been slowly deteriorating and I made the decision to replace the radiator. First, I took it to my local repair shop and they pressure tested the radiator to confirm that it indeed needed to be replaced. They quoted me $507 to do the repair. I thanked them for the quote and decided I needed to do a bit of research before I let them do the work. I called a local radiator supply and discovered that I could purchase the radiator for less than $200, the repair shop wanted $350. I then got a second quote for installation only from a second shop which was $150. I then went online and watched a how to video on replacing your radiator. It seemed straightforward so I enlisted the help of my friend Larry Rice and we decided to tackle it ourselves.

We met yesterday morning to do the work. We removed the radiator, took it to the radiator supply where we purchased the new radiator and verified that it matched the one from my truck. We stopped by Autozone and purchased some antifreeze and transmission fluid and returned to my garage where we installed the new radiator.

The only mishap was a pair of needle nose pliers that slipped into a crevice in my engine compartment that we failed to fish out and they became a permanent resident of my engine compartment.

I drove the truck to work and noticed a small amount of fluid on the pavement under my truck later in the day. Thus, I have a little follow up work to figure out which hose or fitting is not quite tight enough. Judging by the color of the fluid I think it is a loose fitting for the transmission line. But, overall a successful shade tree repair and a net savings of just under $200 after paying my friend for his time and effort to help me.

I have nothing against using a repair shop and I'm willing to pay a bit more for the expertise and convenience that a repair shop offers but I was turned off by the attempt to gouge me an additional $150 for the radiator. The job took us three hours to complete and that included one hour going to get the radiator and half an hour trying to recover the pliers.

Watching the how to video on the Internet was invaluable and made the job much easier because I knew what to expect and what to look for during the actual repair. I learned that the radiator also cools the transmission fluid, in my truck, which came as a surprise to me.