Yesterday morning on my way to a meeting in Adkins, TX my car overheated. Not sure how long it had been overheating as I didn't notice anything until I exited the interstate to take a hwy to my meeting. At the stop light I smelled a strong burning smell and as I turned on to the Hwy 87 I saw the check engine light was on. I pulled into a QuikTrip about 500 ft. down the road and turned the car off. At then point I saw a little smoke coming from under the hood. I waited about 30 minutes to see if the car would start and it would not. My customer picked me up and we went to lunch. Came back 3 hours later, called AAA to pickup the car and take it to my mechanic (Chad Miller Auto Care on De Zavala). When the wrecker arrived I tried starting it again and it started.
So my mechanic calls this afternoon and says the lower radiator hose was not only not connected but wasn't there at all???!! My big concern is, is the engine ok. He said they've driven it 3 times and there car is running great. He replaced the radiator last year. No one has worked on the car but his shop. He sent me a bill for replacing both the top and bottom hose. I'm thinking of pushing back since his shop installed the radiator?

I'm wondering if I should take it to another shop, for another opinion. It needs new control arms, new valve cover and plugs. Total bill is $3.4k. I don't mind paying that at all, the car only has 55k miles on it and it's a 2004 Lexus ES 330. Never had a problem with it until now.

Would really like advice/feedback. Thanks for reading.

Mark

TexAg1987 said:

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"last year" meaning last week or 365 days ago?

if it has been close to a full year, I don't see how you can put it on them.


why did it need a new radiator at 55k?

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It's a 2004. I came on this board asking for opinions.

if they say it's fine, what makes you doubt them?

If it runs like it did before, isn't smoking, fluid levels stay normal, etc, just keep rolling and consider yourself lucky!

Yeah, at this point, age is just as much of a factor as mileage.

meggy09 said:

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A tire shop put new tires on my car 10 months ago and I just had a blow out. I'm thinking about going g after them because it feels like this is their fault!11!1!

This is basically the same thing. You realize how idiotic that sounds right??


That's my opinion

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Yeah, for the most part. I've just never heard of the radiator hose coming completely off. I've owned a lot of vehicles. Never heard of a radiator hose coming completely off. Never heard a story like that from any of my friends.

If that shop had messed up replacing the rad and hoses, you'd have known very soon after. I don't think this is on them. That's a solid car with a lot of life left in it. I'd drive it for a while to verify the engine is ok, then get a couple more estimates on the other work.

Yeah, I can see that. Just weird.

GrapevineAg said:

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So a radiator hose can pop off when pressure builds due to something like a blocked bypass hose or stuck (closed) thermostat. If one end if a hose came free while you were in the highway, and you didn't notice right away, I can see where the whole thing could work itself off.

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Got it. My mechanic said in his 25 years of doing this he's never seen it either. I'm sure you're right and it happens, it's just unusual.

He's running the compression check this morning and changing the oil to see if there are any larger than normal pieces of metal of it the oil looks like it has glitter in it.

TexAg1987 said:

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regardless of the age of the car, 55k miles is low mileage to need a new radiator. being a 2004, the low mileage could cause the hoses to dry out i guess.

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A lot of Lexus radiators from that era have a plastic fill neck that can become brittle over time and crack, causing a leak. If the coolant was never changed or was old enough it could also cause significant corrosion inside the radiator.

Fair enough.

Good luck, hope no damage was done.

Every cylinder was 180, which is near perfect and no "glitter - metal shavings" in the oil, so we are good to go. With this being an aluminum engine I'm really fortunate. Probably helped that I had a full synthetic oil in it.

Now I can get back to finish restoring my '97 F250 4WD.

Complete Idiot said:

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meggy09 said:

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A tire shop put new tires on my car 10 months ago and I just had a blow out. I'm thinking about going g after them because it feels like this is their fault!11!1!

This is basically the same thing. You realize how idiotic that sounds right??


That's my opinion

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I don't know about "go after them" if that means to ask them to pay for this recent issue, if it's been over a month, but I also think it's highly unusual for a radiator hose to complete disappear. Given this shop worked on the radiator in the last year, I may not trust them with ADDITIONAL work, I would just have too many questions about how that hose came to completely fall off. Even if unfair, I don't think I could feel confident to give them more work unless it had been my shop for a decade plus with dozens of problem free repairs and perhaps the individual who did the prior work is no longer at the shop.

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Thank you for your rational post. I didn't tell the whole story in my last post.....Yesterday morning my mechanic called and told me to just pick up the car as he was offended that I wasn't satisfied with his assessment (drove it 20 miles and pressure checked the radiator). I was a bit taken back and told him it was recommended to me by 2 of my friends who are in fricking racing, both engineers to have a pressure check done and change the oil. If the old oil looked "glittery" then fix the hose and trade it. It was only $160 to pressure check each cylinder and just as important it gives me more confidence that I don't have to worry engine troubles. As I have previously posted he did the work, but I shouldn't have to argue to have work done as I'm the customer and I'm paying you. Glad it's over.

fixer said:

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Reload8098 said:

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Yesterday morning on my way to a meeting in Adkins, TX my car overheated. Not sure how long it had been overheating as I didn't notice anything until I exited the interstate to take a hwy to my meeting. At the stop light I smelled a strong burning smell and as I turned on to the Hwy 87 I saw the check engine light was on. I pulled into a QuikTrip about 500 ft. down the road and turned the car off. At then point I saw a little smoke coming from under the hood. I waited about 30 minutes to see if the car would start and it would not. My customer picked me up and we went to lunch. Came back 3 hours later, called AAA to pickup the car and take it to my mechanic (Chad Miller Auto Care on De Zavala). When the wrecker arrived I tried starting it again and it started.
So my mechanic calls this afternoon and says the lower radiator hose was not only not connected but wasn't there at all???!! My big concern is, is the engine ok. He said they've driven it 3 times and there car is running great. He replaced the radiator last year. No one has worked on the car but his shop. He sent me a bill for replacing both the top and bottom hose. I'm thinking of pushing back since his shop installed the radiator?

I'm wondering if I should take it to another shop, for another opinion. It needs new control arms, new valve cover and plugs. Total bill is $3.4k. I don't mind paying that at all, the car only has 55k miles on it and it's a 2004 Lexus ES 330. Never had a problem with it until now.

Would really like advice/feedback. Thanks for reading.

Mark

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Don't overcomplicate it.

Replace lower radiator hose. change oil and filter. and drive on.

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Oil should be fine. My Cayenne was overheating due to failed shutters on the front end. Oil is fine in overheat situatuations. Its designed for high heat.

So did you check the coolant level when you first pulled over?? I'm assuming you did if you attempted to start the car on two separate occasions, but the mechanic said the lower hose was missing.

BiggiesLX said:

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So did you check the coolant level when you first pulled over?? I'm assuming you did if you attempted to start the car on two separate occasions, but the mechanic said the lower hose was missing.

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The reservoir was full and my mechanic said it was weird that the reservoir was full but the hose was gone. I didn't lift the radiator cap.

Nah, when the normally closed system becomes open (like when the hose came off), there's no suction for the radiator to the overflow reservoir/canister. The reservoir is for expansion/contraction of the coolant whose volume changes with temperature.

I don't think they caused your issue, but it might be time to find another shop.

Yep, I think he's trust worthy but when you argue with the customer about service they want performed (testing pressure in cylinders, checking out the oil for metal), I think that's a little over the top. I don't treat my customers that way. Big believer in servitude sales, service, leadership, etc.

Reload8098 said:

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Yep, I think he's trust worthy but when you argue with the customer about service they want performed (testing pressure in cylinders, checking out the oil for metal), I think that's a little over the top. I don't treat my customers that way. Big believer in servitude sales, service, leadership, etc.

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Thats how to do it. Maybe recommending to the customer why you may think about not doing a particular service and why to save them money, but if they insist...yes sir.

Reload8098 said:

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I'm wondering if I should take it to another shop, for another opinion. It needs new control arms, new valve cover and plugs. Total bill is $3.4k. I don't mind paying that at all, the car only has 55k miles on it and it's a 2004 Lexus ES 330. Never had a problem with it until now.

Would really like advice/feedback. Thanks for reading.

Mark

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why do you need new lower control arms at 55k miles?

And yes, $3.4k sounds expensive for that work.

Yeah, "can we run some additional tests just to be sure" is a different ballgame than rejecting his recommendation on a repair/non-repair. And while it likely worked its way off over an extended amount of time, I do question the quality of the work done to put it on initially. So maybe they weren't so half-assed that it fell right off immediately and therefore can't ever be proven responsible, but still highly questionable. Would definitely be done with that shop