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His charges seem high........the radiator and cap and thermostat are $135 on Amazon.....sooooo you might want to ask him if the labor is $1300.........
Diagnosis: Radiator failure due to the nipple to the overflow tank breaking, also possible contributing cause was disintegrating radiator cap. Leakdown test all good so no head gasket damage.
Replace radiator, cap, thermostat, flush & fill, oil change & cabin air fliter + labor: $1650.00
Apparently the nipple becomes brittle over time even though they are reinforced with metal inside the plastic nipple and just shear off.
The shop said they've hit them when replacing an air filter and had them snap off.
Seems like this radiator nipple is a poor design by either Lexus or Denso or both.
Super expensive but I'm glad to hear your engine is OK.
Last edited by Lavrishevo; Aug 5, 2019 at 10:34 AM.
This happened to me about a month ago. After I arrived home, I noticed some water dripping and so I immediately opened up the hood, then I found this.
Bought the Denso radiator from Walart (same price with AMZN) since Amazon didn't have them in stock, and when I took the old one out, it was so bad that by just lightly squeezing, it broke like this.
Anyway, you can just replace the radiator yourself, it's very easy. There is a DIY instruction from the forum.
Your quote pricing is a little high but if it's from a Lexus dealer, they use OEM radiator which cost 4x-5x the Denso we can purchase from Amazon. And their labor rate is like $150/hr.
Well, on the positive note, this incident did not ruin your engine so be happy.
Diagnosis: Radiator failure due to the nipple to the overflow tank breaking, also possible contributing cause was disintegrating radiator cap. Leakdown test all good so no head gasket damage.
Replace radiator, cap, thermostat, flush & fill, oil change & cabin air fliter + labor: $1650.00
Hey, that is great news that the engine is ok.
I agree the price seems high. I bought a genuine Denso radiator for my SC430 for $82. Generally, your bill is half labor and half parts, but if you add up all the parts, it would be less than $800.
I wonder if they figure they can get you for $1700 bucks now, that way when they come back and say you need a new engine; you will be more inclined to go for it, since you already sunk $1700 in it
I don't know the EXACT situation and I don't mean to disparage your mechanic. However, I do want to encourage you to watch out since the price seems high.
This is why these cars get so cheap, because mechanics give quotes of $1600 to replace $200 of super simple DIY parts and then the owners think they're worthless. Good for buyers, bad for owners. Find a new mechanic, you could literally get a gold plated radiator installed for that price.
Agreed, at first glance it did look a DIY job but..... I had a 7AM flight this AM and was trying to get this handled while in and out of airports.
I get back home at Midnight Wed and leave at 1AM Friday for vacation.
I saw the radiator on eBay and the were much cheaper but I have no time to handle this right now.
The labor seems a bit expensive especially for the thermostat, almost 2 hrs.
Oh well, such is life.
Thanks for all the input.
Agreed, at first glance it did look a DIY job but..... I had a 7AM flight this AM and was trying to get this handled while in and out of airports.
I get back home at Midnight Wed and leave at 1AM Friday for vacation.
I saw the radiator on eBay and the were much cheaper but I have no time to handle this right now.
The labor seems a bit expensive especially for the thermostat, almost 2 hrs.
Oh well, such is life.
Thanks for all the input.
A few things in regards to those pushing DIY in this case:
1). Not everyone has the proper tools and/or skills to perform and analyze a leakdown test
2) Without a proper cooling system flush machine how good of a job can you and your garden hose really do
3) Do you have a scan tool to perform a complete system check
4) Can you confirm your water pump is working properly
5) What warranty comes on the work you performed
6) Can you go without your vehicle for 2-3 days waiting for parts
7) Do you have 4-6 hrs in the middle of the week free to work on the car or add another 2-3 days with no car waiting for the weekend
Sometimes you just need to do a $$ vs time analysis.
In this case the $$ were cheaper than my time & pain.
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