1990 Ford F-250 Integrity

RONKAUFFMAN

MEMBER
1990 FORD F-250
V8
4WD
MANUAL
73,000 MILES

I have a 1990 Ford F250 with a 460 engine. I recently had some clutch work done and the water pump replaced. When the shop replaced the water pump they damaged the radiator. They offered to put a new one in if I paid for the part claiming the radiator may have already been damaged. It was very obvious they damaged it so I insisted they pay for it and they did, I think. They had only given me a quote for the work over the phone, when I went to pay for it the bill was about the cost of a new radiator more than what it should have been. Of course I questioned this and they said they had to "remove and/or replace the Timing cover and/or gasket", they said it was necessary when replacing the water pump but they didn't realize it until after they gave me the quote. They charged me 2.5 hours labor which comes out to $245, the new radiator was $250. They had already charged me $196 for removing and replacing the water pump. The question is, does this sound resonable? Thanks, Ron
P.S. The name of the shop is Integrity Auto in Scotts Valley CA.

1 Reply

FLEXY5

MECHANIC
512 POSTS

The proper way to replace the water pump is in conjunction with the front cover gasket. While replacing the pump CAN be done without replacing the timing cover gasket, it can almost be guaranteed that the timing cover gasket will leak if it is not replaced. However, any reputable shop should have known about this and included it in their original quote. If I did my math correctly, their labor rate was somewhere around $96.00 an hour. If that is close, that means they already had two hours in removing the water pump. That seems high, but I don't have a labor guide in front of me at this time. Even still, it only takes another 1 hour to remove and replace the front cover. I agree with you, something sounds funny about all that extra time. Give me a shout if you have any other questions. You can PM me or post back here.