Stupid me and dealership! Norcal

[PRob52]

Took my 02 V8 LS in for a $118 coolant exchange flush @ 134k mi. When I got home I noticed coolant leaking in driveway, I thought nothing of it since it just got changed. Well 90 miles later my car overheated on a bridge. Come to find out my resvoir tank busted and had no water or coolant. Called the dealership and told them they what happened. THey paid for the tow back to the dealership and I got a call confirming the tank busted and it would be $515 to replace the tank and for a cap. $194 for the tank $11 for the cap (and get this, they would waive the $18 fee to refill the fluids) (the rest labor cost)!!!! Im soo pissed. Bastards. I only went to the dealership because I needed something else done that they only could do in my town. Bull Crap. Thanks for letting me vent.

P-Rob

 

[RigsLS]

Actually on an 02 the degas bottle was ready to go at any time, they all develop stress cracks, when the dealership attempted the flush they may have further assisted that degas bottle end of life by means of pressure. It's not their fault, they didn't break it, it was on it's way out and you have more cooling parts to replace on that yet. As a stranded motorist they gave you a FREE tow, that was nice of them!

Buy some tools and roll up some sleeves, you could have done all this yourself in less then 30-45 minutes for under 200$

see here: Re&Re - OEM Degas Bottle - GEN 1 V8

We've all replaced our Degas bottle, if you haven't yet, you will eventually.

You still have Thermostat, housing w/ cap & in/outlet tubes to look forward to.

~ Stay Tuned & Open Wallet.

 

[PRob52]

Thanks BigRig That actually does make me feel better. I haven't paid yet its still there at the dealership. I was going to have it towed home and then order the parts and try to do it myself. Bad part for me is its my only car and I just started my new job today so I really don't have the time and need to get it back on the road, so Imma have to open the wallet tomorrow most like likely. Any suggestions on what I should start planning for in the rest of the cooling system. Im thinking the Hydrolic fan will be the next to go.

 

[RigsLS]

Don't mean to upset you but facts are facts, it's an eleven year old car now, they all eventually need money thrown at them.
The Hydraulic cooling fan system is luck of the draw but you can assist it by changing the fluid out yourself in the driveway. (annually)

A turkey baster to pull the old fluid out ... no need to take the bottom line off, actually more work that way.

There's a lot of help on this forum and others will help.

 

[joegr]

Yep, they didn't cause it. The most that they did was make it fail completely a week sooner than it was going to anyway. I'll bet you that it was already leaking before this, just not enough for you to notice. The only thing that I would blame them for, is not checking the condition of the system and catching that the bottle was cracked.
A wise person, would now also replace at least the thermostat housing and thermostat, with the metal Jaguar parts.

 

[jjcool00]

Replacing the degas and bleeding the system are both very easy. I have no mechanical background and was able to do both myself twice now in less than an hour.