3800 radiator flush

The Lesabre will be 5 years in May '07 I bought it used 1.8 years ago with 18000 miles now it has 31000 miles on it, yesterday I heard a squeak from the brakes and think "yea it's time to have some things done" took it to the shop today for a radiator flush, change of brake fluid and new brake shoes. They say that I still have 50% of my front brakes and 65% of my rear brake shoes left so that a brake job is unnecessary, So I get it home and start looking under the hood, the fluid in the radiator is kinda yellowish, the fluid in the overflow tank is Dex-cool red. I called the shop and expressed my concern and yep the guy says that there was a mistake,(Hibdon's uses something other than Dex cool) and I should bring it back in and there will be no waiting. Now I'm thinking that since they messed up on something as simple as a flush how sure can I be about the other services they did? If in 6 months the gaskets blow is it related to this? can I be sure if they did chage the brake fluid? and are my brake shoes in the shape that they say? also because I have to hire a nurse to sit with an elderly parent should I ask for compensation? how worried should I be about the gaskets? Ideas or suggestions please.

Reply to
Steve, Has Tiger firmly by tai
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GO5 coolant is yellow. Nothing wrong with using GO5 coolant. Some of the other universal hybrid coolants are yellow also. Probably work as good or better than Dexcool. (not that Dexcool is all that bad to begin with)

Like dump the Dexcool in the overflow and re-fill it with what they have in the radiator...

In your post, you've misspelled "LeSabre", "yeah" and "change", How can I (we) be sure you're not making all of this up?

The gaskets aren't going to blow because of the coolant they used. The upper intake manifold and lower intake manifold gaskets will fail all by themselves just like they do on millions of other cars that use the same engine as your LeSabre. I've had yellow (GO5) coolant in my truck for over 4 years and there have been no problems.

Nope, you can't be sure of anything, including tomorrow.

Can't see 'em from here. But gee, would they make more money by selling you brakes that you didn't need, by selling you brakes you did need or by not selling you brakes you didn't need?

You can ask for anything you can think of. They are under no legal obligation to compensate you for anything, unless of course you honestly believe that they are responsible for the aging of your parent, the fact that he/she can't be left alone or the

31000 miles accumulated on your car or its having aged 5 years.

Not very.

Let them correct their very simple mistake.

Reply to
aarcuda69062

Who changes the brake fluid? You may as well change the air in tires.

Reply to
Micah

If you ever let a Teves system corrode because you didn't change the brake fluid, you wouldn't make such a stupid statement...

Reply to
<HLS

"Micah" wrote

Ahhh....an automotive repair and maintenance expert!

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Anyone who cares about proper maintenance.

Reply to
Hairy

As a regular scheduled maintenance? I see no point unless you have moisture in the system or dirty fluid. Maybe I am wrong. Ian you are a GM service technician correct? Or so I gathered from previous posts. If this should be regular maintenance & of the utmost importance why then is it not listed in the owners manual?

Reply to
Micah

"Micah" wrote

Which owners manual are you looking at?

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Returned the LeSabre to the shop today, and politely explained my worries, they were willing to drain and flush the radiator again and refill with with dex cool, but they did suggest that only the stuff in the overflow needed to be replaced. I agreed to this, but explained that I was going to buy a battery from them today and that it would be nice if they would comp me the 1/2 hour labor charge for installing it, no problem! So when I pick the car up the manager tells me that they replaced the fluid in the overflow, but that it still looked red because the dex cool had stained the reservior. 2 months from now when I break down and replace the tyres (will insist on new air) I will return to that shop.Thanks Cuda69 for your poignant advice you were on the mark.

Reply to
Steve, Has Tiger firmly by tai

99 GP GTP
Reply to
Micah

Ian,

The owners manual for my 2005 Buick Park Avenue says nothing about changing the brake fluid.

harryface

05 Park Avenue 54,243 91 Bonneville 309,055
Reply to
Harry Face

"Micah" wrote

That's what I suspected. You might want to check the owners manual on something like an Aveo.

The point is, there are other GM vehicles that do include changing the brake fluid. Can you tell me what difference there is between your 99 GP's brake system and the brake fluid that it uses and any other vehicle that "does" include changing brake fluid (you can also reference other manufactures, some euro cars require this too).

You certainly are under no obligation to change the brake fluid on your car. But to compare the merits of changing brake fluid to the idea of changing the air in your tires is a bit much.

I see first hand every day what brake fluid does within a couple of years. It's not pretty.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Brake fluid is Hygroscopic, meaning it readily absorbs water molecules (moisture in the air). Every time the master cylinder is opened for inspection, the brake fluid is exposed to moisture in the air. A poor seal on a can/bottle of stored brake fluid has the same exposure. Wonder why a master-cylinder rusts? Moisture on the exterior....but, it's the same for the interior. Water molecules in brake fluid lower the boiling point of the fluid and lessen the fluids ability to exert pressure. The same rusting is happening inside the system on all the steel pieces. That rust gets to seals and 'grinds' away at them.... seal failure. Bad news for braking ability when you might need brakes. Why changing brake fluid isn't on the maintenance schedule is curious. Changing brake fluid is cheap insurance and probably should be done every 3 to 5yrs, IMO anyway.....

Dave S(Texas)

Reply to
putt

My previous statement about the Teves systems perhaps needs a little clarification, and a little apology for using the word 'stupid'.

The Teves system was used on the GM Reatta and some other applications, as well as the Thunderbird by Ford, etc.

It is an excellent system in many respects but is VERY expensive. A new master cylinder costs about $1800 for my car.

If you dont change the fluid, about every two years is the suggestion of the Buick Reatta Club, you are likely to lose the cylinder, sooner or later.

In less expensive systems, a master cylinder might only cost you a hundred bucks or so, but a failure in a braking system can cost you your life. Bad economics, when a few bucks worth of brake fluid and a few minutes to flush the system can help prevent the problem.

Again, sorry for using the word "stupid'.

Reply to
<HLS

Most European and Japanese cars call for changing the brake fluid every

2-3 years. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and it is a very good idea to change it out periodically.
Reply to
John Horner

Sure, go ahead and believe that you never need to change brake fluid and that automatic transmission fluid is good for 100k miles or more.

You can pay a little now, or more later.

Reply to
John Horner

Which is why most Asian and European brands included brake fluid changes on the maint. schedule ever 2-3 years. The US brands don't put in on the schedule, apparently in order to lower perceived maintenance costs or to improve sales of master cylinders, calipers, ABS controllers and wheel cylinders down the road.

Reply to
John Horner

"John Horner" wrote

I think that this is exactly what is going on! The US manufacturers are trying to sell the public on the notion that you never need to do any maintenance on your vehicle. Now that they have these extended drivetrain warranties...I fully expect to see the the fallout of this type of thinking.

We keep hearing rumours of GM trying to develop a vehicle that will not need an oil change for 30K klms. Can you imagine? This would be a vehicle that would never need to darken the door of a dealership but once...on it's way to the 60K klm warranty cutoff.

For the customer that leases....this all makes good sense. Drive your car for 3 years, do nothing to it...and trade it in on a new one. That's exactly what I would do! Throw away car!

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

I was once told that the reason that the US mfgrs. didn't recommend regular fluid changes was that their tests had shown that over 10 years, the brake fluid did not absorb enough moisture to be unusable. They felt that the small but real possibility of pushing debris (pieces of worn rubber seals, small rust particles, etc.) into the ABS control valves due to flushing was more likely than a brake system failure due to degraded fluid and/or corrosion in the first ten years, which is all the longer they really expected the vehicle to be on the road.

Now I wish I could remember if I got that from an actual engineer, or just read it in a magazine somewhere. I wish I could tell you.

Anyway, IMHO if you plan on keeping your vehicle longer than ten years, a brake fluid flush is in order, because what the mfgrs don't tell you when they explain as above, is that not flushing your fluid for ten years is a good way to end up with a completely worthless brake system that will cost more than the book value of your vehicle to replace at about 13-15 years. I vote for flushing, every time.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

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