Ouch! The bill was $785, but I had a 10% off coupon that made it merely painful. On the plus side, even today, when I was driving home in 96o weather, with the air conditioning on, the cooling system stayed between 192o and 210o. Across the Sahara at 100 MPH? Not even slightly worried.
The other plus is that the engine feels a bit peppier -- which is not surprising. Engine output is partly determined by the difference in temperature I have a vague memory that Carnot cycle explains this. But I can feel a bit more punch, now that the engine is running 350 - 450 cooler.
The bad news is that they say I should have a tuneup soon (about $700) and the harmonic balancer is degrading (about $820), and should be replaced in six months or a year.
Sounds like a nice time to trade it in for a C7!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good way to delay retirement.
ReplyDeleteThis tells me I should be glad I can't afford such toys.
ReplyDeleteThese things seem very typical for most products manufactured by GM.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought the Corvette, I worked in the private sector. It did not seem so silly at the time.
ReplyDeleteWhile $700 for a tuneup sounds outrageous, this is typically something you do every 100,000 miles. That's seven/tenths of a cent per mile -- not so bad, in retrospect. Similarly, the radiator job came to $711 -- and this is the first one that I have had done, and I have about 110,000 miles on it.
Harmonic balancer replacement seems to be a lot more uncertain, but when I have this done in six months or a year, it will be the first one.
Yeah, a $700 "tune" at the 100k mark isn't too far out of line, especially for a performance car.
ReplyDeleteI've replaced radiators in other vehicles - they are a wear item, even if more typically at the 150-200k mark - and that price is not far out of line either.
I'm bearish on GM products, myself, but I'm not going to call them out on what Clayton's reported.
Well, I have to go pick up a new hub cap for my '97 Exploder (The weakest link in the Exploder after the jack compartment lid. $70
ReplyDeleteThe mechanic didn't put it on right, but I get stick.
Hard for me to feel sorry for somebody that has a 'Vette that runs.