Our ’98 Monte Carlo left us sit beside the road in pouring snow/slush the other night. Piece of junk.
I had it towed to the mechanic, and he called me later and said it was the fuel pump. “It’s expensive,” he warned.
Before I called him back I looked to see what I could find on the internet, and sure enough it WAS expensive. The cheapest fuel pump assembly I could find (in a quick search) was at Auto Parts Warehouse for $308.
That’s insane. I called him back, and his price was way over $400. We had a little chat and I told him how much cheaper I could get it online.
I didn’t want to wait for days for it to come, and mechanics don’t want customers to get their own parts, so he dropped it down a little bit for me.
I also had him do a pressure check on the cooling system, as I’ve been losing a little antifreeze.
I went and picked it up the old crate today. And received the verdict that the intake manifold gasket is leaking coolant. To the tune of $800.
8 Responses
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 am
I so feel your pain. I have a leaky head gasket that I’m just driving with because it would cost more to fix the thing that the car is worth. Anybody want to buy an ugly 93 dodge shadow with a leaky head gasket? Thought not.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Note to ITF and Ryan: I think if you drain the fluids from aforementioned crate and shadow, you can sell ’em for scrap metal.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Definitely a worthy idea.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
The car has always been good to me. I think it would to you too, if only you learned the art of talking nice to it. I still love my car!
Jewel
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
My husband has a 1983 monte carlo. He says that is the best car he has ever owned.LOL! Of course we don’t drive it much anymore though. Probably why it still runs.
April 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Justin D. just had his intake gasket replaced not too long ago. I wonder if he has the same motor in his Grand Am.
Wow, that is truly an insane amount of money for a fuel pump assembly.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Senor,
‘Tis time to take the plunge into the world of minivans, perhaps? I know the two door car is cool, but… Hey, if you get an old enough minivan, it’ll only have one door on the driver’s side! Mine’s like that, and I paid less than half (for the whole van) of what that intake manifold gasket repair is going to cost you! BTW, Chevy isn’t the only brand that loses coolant. My van’s a F. O. R. D. (Flipped Over Renovated Dumpster)…I think it’s their way of ensuring new coolant makes it into the system at least every once in a while. It can also play a cappella music over the stock sound system.
~Kon
April 8th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
No, I don’t really want a 2 door. I’d love to get rid of this thing, but I want a big 4 door.