Need Help! 1996 Sunfire GT auto

  • Thread starter Thread starter jdwksu
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J

jdwksu

Please Help... Here is the story...

We were staying at a hotel last night, parked in garage. We get up to leave this morning, and as we are pulling out of parking stall, I notice a puddle where the car was parked.

I drive home about 10 miles. Notice the temp is going up on the gauge.

I get home park the car get out and look underneath the car. There I notice at the back of the engine on the bottom a moderate leak, about 4-5 drips a second, and it is coolant/ and or water.

I wait a couple hours until a repair shop opens, It is Sunday so only one I could find was a Firestone.
It has been a couple hours.. when i go out to take it to Firestone, there is a sizeable puddle under the car, about 3 feet in size. I put about 3/4 a gallon of coolant into it so it doesn't overheat on the way there.

They do a pressure test on it for $25. They call and tell me that it is somekind of aluminun housing that contains multiple thermostats, My car really won't overheat if I keep dumping coolant into it, but with the amount of coolant it is losing I won't be able to drive it very far. He tells me that it is a "dealer" part and has no idea how much it costs.

I did a little looking and the only thing I could come up with is this:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214126&chapter= DP1NJ0&appSectionid=8&groupid=62104&subgroupid=0&c omponentid=0&make=28&model=Sunfire&year=1996&graph icID=NJP030&callout=4&catalogid=1


It is either the thermostat, therostat housing, or the water outlet, but to my knowledge none of these contain multiple thermostats. All of these are located near where the drip was, which is the rear bottom of the car.

What I need help with is this:

Is the part he is describing actually there and i am missing it or can't find it?
Is it one of the parts I listed?
Has anyone run into a similar problem?

Any help with this is appreciated as I do not really know much about cars.

Thanks in advance.

Jason
 
Jason
I really don't think you have "multiple thermostats" Sounds like they were trying to pad the bill.

Can you get a floor jack and some jack stands? If yes jack it up and support the car with the stands. Get under there and see what's leaking. If it's dripping 4-5 drips per second you will see it w/o a pressure test.

The upper hose should go to the thermostat housing inlet. You should see this leak from the top looking under the hood.

If it's only visible from below it may be the lower raditator hose to the water pump.

It may be the hose going to the housing or the gasket between the housing and engine, or you may have a temperature sender there that's leaking. It could be the housing itself is cracked but most likely something easier like a hose.
 
Last edited:
Well...

They called back and said it was the water outlet. They could fix it for $338

That includes labor, part, and a Flush which they said they needed to do.

WATER OUTLET, Sunfire, 2.4L 96-02 $27.14 $16.43

They said it would take 2 hours worth of labor.

Seems I am getting ripped off, which I guess you just come to expect with repair shops these days (Firestone). And it is too much of a hassle to take it to this garage or another one for a 2nd option etc...

I need the car to run, so I guess I will pay it, I will just never take it back there again.
 
I have the same car, and the same problem. I had to replace my water outlet myself a few months back. That is WAY TOO much to charge for a water outlet job, it only took me 1 hour. Sorry to hear it.
 
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