YACT - 98 Cavalier

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

1998 Chevy Cavalier LS coupe, auto transmission, 86K miles, 3rd owner.
Took the old gal in for an oil change at the local Chevy dealership. According to them, I need to :

[*] $75 - Change the serpentine belt (this one I knew about before hand)
[*] $100 - Coolant flush
[*] $160 - Transmission flush + filter

The car was purchased about a year ago, been driven ~6K miles without any problems (other than the old alternator going out a couple of months ago). As far as the transmission goes, I haven't noticed any problems (no rough gear changes, etc.). However, I don't know the service history of the car and have read here and there that flushing the transmission (it doesn't sound like they're going to do the usual bleed 1/3 of the fluid) could be harmful on older vehicles.

So, two questions : Should I get all of the above done? Is the dealership making "dealership burgers" with them supplying the meat and me the buns 😉 ?

Many TIA!

 

[funboy6942]

If you know how to do any thing to a car at all you can save your self a ton of money.

One thing a belt is $35 at the auto parts store, the directions to put on on is a sticker under the hood and takes 5 minutes to do. Most cases all you need to do the work is a 3/8 ratchet.

2nd Cooling flush, all you need is a bucket and a gallon of NON pre-mixed coolant that goes for $12 at the auto parts store. There is a drain valve on the radiator near the bottom. You twist it to open it, or just take the lower hose off with the use of a flat head screw driver. Empty fluid out, you dont need to flush it, into your bucket, close the valve or reattach the hose, pour the gallon of antifreeze in, then top off with water and your done.

3rd. Dont need to flush the tranny. Can be done yourself with a pan bucket, 3/8 ratchet and a 3/8 or 10mm socket. Remove the trans pan, drain the fluid, remove the pan fully, replace the filter, btw filter kit is about $15, put the new pan gasket on and all the bolts to the pan. Put in about 6-8 quarts of tranny fluid in, about $1.20 a pop, check fluid level all the time to make sure you dont over fill and your done.

So there you go ALL EASY STUFF and about $80 VS $315+ at the stealership.

OR

You can drive down here to my house, I have the tools, jack, and jack stand, and huge garage, I will walk you through it, and still save you the money coming here and me teaching you how to do it.

My cost, your company and a few beers 😉

 

[j00fek]

id do all that my self and save 90%

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Thanks for replies folks! I decided to let the shop do the belt (a bit of a pain to reattach the tensioner 😛 ) for ~$55, which isn't too bad since a belt alone is about ~$35.

Had a friend help with "flushing" the radiator and transmission, ie. without using a dedicated machine. So we just drained the fluids and replaced them, although I realize that I probably didn't get most of the fluid stuck in the torque converter.

Two things though. I believe that I've tracked down the oil leak problems that the shop reported. Seems to be slight seepage at the valve cover gasket (which would explain the occasional slight burning smell I've been noticing over the last couple of months), oil pan and power steering pressure hose. The leaks don't seem all that bad (I've never seen puddles of anything on the floor - even after being parked for over two days), so are these things that I should immediately worry about? The shop is quoting the following :

Valve cover gasket - $133
Power steering high pressure hose - $222
Oil pan reseal - $360

Also, I've read on a couple of places that some folks have successfully stopped their power steering leaks using additives from either Trans X or Lucas. Any thoughts on this?

Many TIA! :beer::thumbsup:

 

[funboy6942]

OH man they just see you coming from a mile away. A $8 valve cover gasket I can see needing to be replaced to take care of you oil burning smell, but for god sakes PLEASE do that yourself. Its just a few bolts and popping of a hose or two and then back together.

The other stuff, they are really digging, first off I highly doubt its your high pressure line that is leaking because they dont usually leak they explode, or burst apart, pissing fluid all over the place, it most likely your low pressure side, and again nothing to worry about, all older cars seep, yours just seeps, a little. Same thing with the oil pan. When you start to piss out 1/2 quart of ps fluid and 2 quarts of oil a month because the hose has finally failed and the pan gasket is shot to sh!t, then worry.

Right now they are soooooooooo trying to stick it up your ass with no lube and your on the edge of allowing them to do so. I wouldnt, the valve cover gasket is nothing and if mem serves me right yours is pretty much flat, and held on with allen bolts, piece of cake and they want to charge you over $100 to do it, thats insane!

And do not use any leak stop crap, it swells the gaskets to make them stop but over time they make all the gaskets swell and then all of a sudden you got leaks up the ass coming out of everywhere because of swolen gaskets or eaten away gaskets. Just leave it alone till it gets really bad, add a few bits of fluid now and then, and not worry to much about it and have them at the shop make it out like your going to die.

If you truly need a PS hose down the line a nice set of cheap mechanics line wrenches, and a $35 PS hose, 2 nuts, one on each end of the hose, and your done. But really the high side has so much pressure, a small pin hole of a leak would cause the hose to literally bust apart from all the pressure it is under, why I seriously doubt your high side is leaking at all.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Thanks for the affirmation funboy42. I had rectal itching from them blowing that much smoke up my err... you know 😛 and suspected as much. It would be a little more believable if they said that the return PS line was leaking since that's low pressure but the high pressure line "leaking" absolutely makes no sense.

Let's not even touch on the prices that they quoted. No way I'm going to blow that $800 or so on a car that cost me ~$2K just a year ago.

 

[TwiceOver]

First problem... You bought a Cavalier. Don't worry, everyone is containing their laughter very well. "Dealer Burger"? Yeah, this usually happens because they are a Dealer.

 

[Christobevii3]

Actually flushing the tranny fluid is pretty difficult on the cavi. There is no cooler or drain on it. Coolant flush you can just do in the alley.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
First problem... You bought a Cavalier. Don't worry, everyone is containing their laughter very well.

Believe you me, I'm grateful for that. 😛 Only planning to keep it for another year or so though, then its on to a real job + car :beer:

 

[xgsound]

Cavaliers have thier faults to be sure, but they get 34 MPG, parts are plentiful, parts are cheap, and everybody knows how to work on them. One relative got 270,000 out of one and figured that expecting any more without a catastrophy would be stupid; so he gave in and got a new one recently.

The only thing I'd suggest is to change out the "dexcool" orange coolant to anything else if you haven't already. If you don't, when you get a coolant leak (heat + air) the orange stuff turns to a sludge coating and can't be cleaned out.


Jim

 

[funboy6942]

The cavalier is a great THROW away car. The engines are solid, they had head gasket problems on some years, not sure if yours is of that year, can call any dealership with your vin# and see if it has the head gasket recall for it, trannys are not all that bad, just that its not a car you look at and go "Id like to keep it forever". If treated well the engine will get close to 200K miles, but once thing start to leak/seep you just start to add some fluids now and then. If they get really bad its time to figure out if what it costs to fix it is more or cheaper then buying another throw away car till you can afford a real one.