So I take the car down this morning after class to get the radiator flushed. I get home and about 45 min later i get a call saying that they broke the thermostat housing bolt not only do i have to pay the 115 dollars to get the rad. flushed but i have to pay an extra 250 dollars to get the bolt removed. The worst part about it is that they said it would take 2 hours. BULL, it will probably take them about half an hour to fix it. Is this commin to happen to older 300d's mine is a 81'. even worse is that I could fix it but i have no time.

Times like this it pays to have done it yourself.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

***** happens when you deal with old cars. It's not their fault it broke. Complaining that they said it would take two hours and then an unforeseen accident extends that time is a waste of your time.

If they broke it and then charged you to fix it without notifying you first, that would be something to complain about.

I know it's not how the world works... but IMHO if they broke it then the "repair our mistake" part of the job is on their time and their cash, not yours.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

In reality, no one would be willing to work on 25 year old cars under those conditions. Stuff breaks, old stuff breaks more often.

With a new car under warranty, maybe. But on a 22+ year old car with xxx,xxxmiles, no way.

Guess it depends on if it just snapped because it was 22 years old, or if they were monkey wrenching it. Neither extreme is very practical, I suppose.

Still.. paying people to break things I could have broken myself...

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I know but working on a car 25 years + don't you think that they should have used some sort of liquid wrench or something to loosen the bolts. Plus if they got the second one off because they said that they were going to use wd40 doesn't that mean that they most likely were able to remove the first one if they used that.

I've also broken one, those a pretty small bolts and it doesn't take much torque (and I think the PO had it cross-threaded). He'll probably have to remove the housing and drill it out.

In reality, my indy would probably fix it himself (within reason), but that's after many $1000s on business that I've given him over the years.

They do rust pretty easy imo.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Actually those bolts are very easy to break upon reinstallation. I have break them on several vehicles. By luck if you break them on the water pump you can just junk the water pump housing and get a new one at the pick and pull.

I am not sure what to tell you about the money but you should surely at least protest. Removing that bolt in particular from the head shouldnot be too difficult but some other bolt are wicked!!!

__________________
------------------------------------------
Aquilae non capunt muscas! (Eagles don't hunt flies!)


1979 300SD Black/Black MBtex239000mi
1983 300TD euro-NA. White/Olive Cloth-MBtex 201000mi. Fleet car of the USA embassy in Morocco
1983 240D Labrador Blue/Blue MBtex 161000mi

$250 sounds stiff to remove a bolt.

I know how you feel. Personally, I'd also think that a knowlegable mechanic would carefully remove suspect bolts.

Yes, they sometimes snap but since it is a scenario of 'trust the other's word and deed' , it makes it hard to swallow.

In such a situation, they ought to at least go 50-50 on the mess since they did not give you oral or written warning that certain bolts may break.

Face it, they are the ones with experience and you are supposedly paying a premium for that.

good luck

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Like maybe they should have x-rayed it first? A rusted bolt can break with less torque than is required to loosen a normal bolt.

The last broken thermotat bolt that I had took about five minutes to fix. When I started drilling it for a screw extractor, the bolt started turning and just screwed right out the back of the housing.

Usually no amount of penetrating oil will make it very far behind the head. Water pump bolts rust where the pump mounts to the block. These are especially problematic on all cars.

It's not their fault. It's not your fault either, but it's your car. Sorry to say, but it's also your liability.

tangofox, hardly xray worthy, the point was that a knowlegable mechanic would have the experience to know that bolts around that suspect area are suseptible to elements that cause higher risk of breakage.
When my mechanic replaced my thermostat, he warned me that this area has to be carefully negotiated in order to avoid bolt breakage. Then, afterward he lightly coated the bolt thread with lubricant in order to avoid future problems.

So, if this 'radiator' specialist did not vocalise a heads up, it MAY follow that they had no concern about muscling off bolts, devil may care.

The latter is purely speculative.

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD