Hi there,
I'm new to this forum, female with a 98 Grand Caravan that I've had since 99 and I'm pretty sensitive to the possibility of mechanics trying to take advantage of me because I'm a single woman and it's happened to me (attempted) a few times over the years. Now is one of those not-so-sure times and I'd appreciate your opinion on what the odds are for the following to happen. Thank you in advance.

Three weeks ago, I replaced my radiator, thermostat and fan cooling relay switch (the switch going bad caused a sudden fan failure/ over-heating, leading to a cracked radiator) and this work was done by an ASE mechanic who used to work at my local Dodge dealership but is now independent. He pressure tested the cooling system for an acceptable amt. of time before returning the car to me and I then went on a 500 mile trip (total miles). A week after returning, I take the van to the dealership for a lube/oil/filter service which I received for free because of a buy one/get two free promotion they had a few months back. I also had a recall issue taken care of (fuel rail replacement). When I brought the van in, I did NOT have any signs of my water pump leaking. This was 3 weeks after my radiator, etc. was replaced.
Well, as you can guess, the service dept at the dealership told me that my water pump was leaking and needed replaced. This wouldn't have bothered me too much I suppose if they also didn't recommend that I get a cooling system service done, new thermostat, new hoses, etc. by their little notation on the bottom of my invoice with an estimate of over $900 for the suggested work.
Did they not notice that I had a brand new radiator in there? I called them up and they pretty much played dumb and denied trying to convince me to get unnecessary work done on my car.
Oh, and yes, my water pump is definitely leaking now although I never saw any signs of it prior to bringing it in for service. So regardless, I'll have to replace that. (It won't be done by them, though) However, what are the odds that this is all just a coincidence and they didn't tamper with my water pump? I hate being cynical but it's hard to trust anyone these days. Could they have inadvertently created the leak in the pump while perfoming the other routine lube/oil/filter maintenance? Three weeks earlier, the system was pressure tested and everything was fine. I can't help but be skeptical.
Any advice or opinions are appreciated.
Thanks

 

Holly crap are they trying to screw you on that waterpump. The part new is under $40 and even cheaper for a remanufactured, it takes less than 20 minutes to replace (whole 8 bolts--3 for the pulley and 5 for the pump). The water pump can randomly fail. It's totally a coincidence. However, take it back to the shop that did all the other work and have them inspect it. Maybe it's just seepage at the lower radiator hose. If any corrosion was left on the hose nipple, the new hose may not have sealed properly.

 

I agree with the suggestion to ensure the hose/s are not leaking, but I just replaced the water pump on my '96 3.3 liter with a NEW pump from Advance auto parts and the cost of the pump was $28.00 and maybe one hour total to get the car in the air, remove the splash shield, drain the coolant, R&R the pump and put all back together. So, get a second opinion or find a shop that will let you bring the pump in and they replace it (at a very low price)

 

This isn't a coincidence, it's a direct result of your new radiator. Now your cooling system is leaking from the weakest link--namely the water pump. Any time you replace a major cooling system component, cooling system pressure can cause the next weakest part to fail.

On one hand, I don't actually blame the dealer for recommending a cooling system service and T stat replacement. That's the prudent thing to do on an older vehicle when you're replacing a water pump. You assume that they knew you had just done that. Not a fair assumption. For all you know the mechanic told the service writer that it needed a new pump and he just quoted the whole shooting match as per policy.

Having said that, $900 is a total rip off for this vehicle. The water pump in the 3.3 has to be one of the easier jobs I've ever done. The labor guide calls for a total of 1 hr for the pump and only .6 for the T stat. That's $150 at dealer rates. Even at dealer list price of about $100 for the pump, they're taking some pretty heavy drugs to be quoting you 9 bills for the job.

Now you know why they can give away free oil changes.