1991 Honda DX Radiator Change out?

My son has a 1991 Honda DX civic with manual trans. It also has a crack in
the top part of the radiator now and needs to be fixed. I suppose the rad
is one of those plastic jobs so can't be soldered. Don't know for shure- I
advised him to get some JB Weld and clean the area and smear it on as a
temp. fix. Anyway the question is what does the flat rate book say is the
labor hours for that project? The cost for the labor goes with the area
[San Francisco Bay] so its hard to say the pric off the top. Any advice as
to what kind of rad to replace it with if the JB fails. I see the price of
those rads vary from about $74.00 to $160.00. Quite a difference Trying
to get an idea as to the all around cost of the fix. Seeing as I will
probably get the bill. Any advice would be appericated, Thanks, Tom

 

===================================
Even with very careful preparation of the surface the JB will only work
for a day or two. It's been mentioned many times around here. That's all
I can offer. Just swap the rad. Since he has a manual tranny, it's a
breeze to replace, even DIY.

'Curly'

 

Well here's the thing, He just had the car fixed for a leak in a metal tube
in the back of the engine and both cv joints replaced to the tune of
$606.oo two days ago. Now the radiator is started leaking on the top from a
crack. I advised him to return to the shop and see what they had to say. I
personaly think that the mec may have "leaned " on the rad to get at the
back of the engine because the leak started soon after he got home with the
car. Prove it? Mabey that can't be done easly but it is very much of a
concidence. If they will not admit it where would he go to complain?
Seeing as they charged him $15.00 for a gallon of anti- freeze they used in
the fix I get the idea theat he may be getting ripped. Well we'll see. He
is nto a mec but I have been working on cars since the 60's and I think he
has a case. Well any advice would be appericated again, Thanks for the
reply. Tom

 

I have a 91 Accord automatic that likely needs a radiator. It has a
very slow leak on top. How tough is it to DIY on an automatic?

 

just the same. only 2 more small tubes. you spill a little
transmission fluid, but not much. last time i did it, spillage was so
small, i didn't even need to top it up!

 

which is a giant pain and involves a lot of disassembly work. i'd want
to charge you close to $600 just for that job alone.

cv joints or whole shafts? joints are more expensive. cheapie whole
shafts are $75 - $100 each. quality honda shafts are over $300 each.

they do.

unlikely. unfortunate, but unlikely.

dude, quality aluminum safe stuff is $9 from woolmort. damned sight
more from kragen. they're not making much profit from you on the
antifreeze.

i think the fact that they diagnosed a leak in a place that's almost
impossible to access may hint at their being vaguely competent.

 

They are probably competent. The fix on the pipe was $230.00 thats fine.
The rest was the remaining of the $606.00 thats fine.
It's just that it wasen't leaking " there" till he got home right after
getting it fixed for those other problems. ok I guess just an amazing
conincidence, mabey.
BTW whats a Kragen?

the main problem is i haven't seen the repair slip and can't really judge
what the deal was, as I live in MN and he is in San Fran area so life is
like that.
Anyway thanks for the reply, Tom. [not dude] :]

 

coincidence. plastic tanks crack and leak with age. google this group
to see hundreds of posts on this subject. all plastic tanks do it, not
just honda. with the leak fixed, the system could fully pressurize and
that was probably the last straw.

high street parts retailer.

yes indeed.

 

Yes I was thinking the same thing, And that rad is 16 years old It's
just luck it lasted this long. I suspect the whole system May be ready for
work.
I looked in a repair manual and i see what you mean about that pipe being
really hard to get at. Time is money and that would be time consuming to do
that part.
Oh Well. Dad's paying for it once again. If you have kid's you know what
I mean.
Thanks, Tom

 

Wasn't that the mythical squid-beast in the second Pirates of the Caribbean
movie? <8^P

Mike

 

A California-based auto parts place, like FLAPS, Pep Boys, AutoZone,
PartSource, CarQuest, NAPA and who knows how many others...

Then d00d! Dawg! Yo! What up?
(I can be forgiven these indiscretions. I am 45 years old have have learned
them from my daughter, who knows *much* more than I do...)

 

Ah! to be 45 again [sigh]

 

Here in Arizona, Kragen is represented by Checker Auto Parts. Other places
it is Schuck's (sp?)

Mike

 

You guys are lucky down there. Up here in Canada none of those chains
exist, not even AutoZone.

Canadian Tire (a sort of general-purpose "dry goods" merchant that also
sells auto products) has recently launched an AutoZone wannabe called
"PartSource". There only a few around and I've never been in one.

We do have NAPA and CarQuest stores, but they're nothing like yours, being
more like small, over-the-counter trade shops that cater primarily to
independent garages.