Thermostat changed but not Water Pump

[JD13]

:?:

I took my 2002 Saturan VUE in to the dealership due to the "service engine light" being on. It was still under warranty at the time and I knew the warranty would be up soon. I also informed that I was going on a long out of state trip and for them to check for anything else as well so it could be fixed.

They came back and stated the thermostat needed to be replaced.

About a week later as I was leaving for my trip the low coolant light came on. I did not see any signs of leaks and the coolant was just below the fill line. I filled up the coolant and had no problems. It came on and off during the trip. So after I returned I called the dearlership and they said it was proablly an air bubble and for me to come in and they could pressure check it.

After taking it in today they came back and said it was the water pump. I asked if this would not have come up during the time when they changed the Thermostat..they said no they checked it then and it was fine. They then gave me a very hight price to fix it. I have now taken it to Pep Boys who are fixing it for alot less in labor.

My wife has talked to a co-worker with mechanic background and they stated that the normal thing to do is change out the Belt,Theormostat and Water Pump at the same time.

So..should the dealership done this in the first place? Is there any set ASE or Saturan standard policy that would have required for it to be changed at the same time?

Thanks for any help in advance.

~JD13

[Tom92SCm]

Which engine does your VUE have?

[JD13]

Its a V-6

[Chazberry]

So..should the dealership done this in the first place? Is there any set ASE or Saturan standard policy that would have required for it to be changed at the same time?

I think this is the case with the 3.0L, but maybe not for the 3.5L Honda.
Someone here will verify I'm sure.

[Gerry Proctor]

...My wife has talked to a co-worker with mechanic background and they stated that the normal thing to do is change out the Belt,Theormostat and Water Pump at the same time. ...

No, that's not normal, particularly in the case of the 3.0 V6 in your Vue. And it would rarely be the case no matter what car you're writing about.

The water pump and thermostat have no relationship to one another other than both being part of the cooling system. If that's adequate criteria, then the radiator, all hoses, coolant purge tank, and maybe the heater core should also be changed. And the failure of one of the components does not put added strain or stress on the other. They have independent functions.

Also, the thermostat bills for five labor hours to replace (I've done the job in three hours easy). The water pump bills for around three hours, though it can easily be done in half the time. There are no common parts that require removal between the two, other than draining the coolant, so no time is saved by doing one while you're doing the other. And sans some diagnostic to indicate otherwise, there would be no need to do both just because you were doing one.

Now, there is one thing that the water pump and the thermostat do have in common, and that's they are both common failure items on the 3.0 Vue.

As for the belt, -same there. If the belt is fine, then you wouldn't bother changing it. We're talking about the accessory drive belt and not the timing belt, I'm assuming. If we are talking about the timing belt, then you would want to change the water pump while you were in there since part of the timing belt labor is doing a lot of what you would be doing anyway to get to the timing belt.

[VTchemist]

I agree with Gerry on changing the timing belt if you are going to have to put in a new water pump. If your VUE is near 100K, do yourself a favor and get the timing belt changed.

The hour charge on a waterpump is 3.5 hours. I had mine replaced two years ago at 75K miles. I had fluid leaking out of the pump.

BTW, if your coolant is leaking, it can contaminate the timing belt. That's not good...

Shop around for another quote on the L81 engine. A good shop that is familiar with import cars (opel engines) should be able to do it for you.

[JD13]

I got the waterpump changed and the timing belt changed as well. They did not charge any extra for labor to put the timing belt in.

Save about half of what the dealership would have charged.

Thanks for the info everyone. :)