Engine Overheating Followup

I just don't see your logic in all this. A 95 year old dies from a stress test, that's a loss of human life. That a far cry from having a raiator hose burst during a pressure test. I have never run across a customer that couldn't afford to replace bad radiator hoses no matter how old the car was. Are you saying it would be better to let the customer drive off with weak cooling system parts that would fail while driving ? Now he drives off and the hose bursts. Now he still has to pay for the hose but add in the cost of a tow and the possiblity of engine damage due to coolant loss. Preventitive maintenance means that you find and fix a potential problem BEFORE it becomes a problem. It does not mean you wait for it to break completly.

But it still does nothing for locating a leak.

This may be a possibility. It's been my experiance that when a customer brings their car into the shop they are already prepared to spend money. They brought their car in because they are having problems and want it fixed.

Actually, the dye is not black, however, it is visible under black light. There are various dyes available, depending on what kind of leak you are looking for. There are dyes for coolant, engine oil, ATF, etc. Add the dye, drive the vehicle for a while, and then shine the black light and look for the fresh trail.

It was factory specified equipment for AMC dealers, I think GM dealers also had a similar kit.

From what I've seen, it is not the hose that bursts during a pressure test, because an experienced technician can usually tell visually if the hose needs replacement and would recommend a hose replacement.

Older Toyotas used to have problems with the crimp betwen the core and upper and and lower tanks. For some reason, they would last a long time without any problem but when someone did a pressure test, the crimps would fail.

Our experiences are probably a liittle different. 100% of the cars I looked at were Toyotas, and I looked at them becuase A) the dealer was having trouble fixing it or wasn't sure if it needed fixing or not; B) it didn't need fixing but I had to meet with the customer and explain why it didn't need fixing: or C) it was out of warranty and the customer wanted Toyota to pay for it anyway. The people in category (C) either couldn't or wouldn't pay so I keep the age and value of the vehicle in mind when making recocmmendations or authorizing out of warranty repairs.

The OP keeps snipping out his original posts so I don't remember all the symptoms and what has been suggested or checked on the cooling system, but I'm beginning to think there is a head gasket problem, and a pressure test won't confirm a head gasket problem.

This isn't the first time that I might be wrong, but I don't think the OP wants to spend $500 on hoses and a radiator and then find out that he has to spend another $1,000+ on a head gasket on an 18 year old vehicle that is barely worth the cost of the repairs.

Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)

Ever hear of trimming a post?

Are all Mikes morons?

No. Are all dizzys dickheads ??? Or are you just a wantabe net cop ???