[bigluelok]

hi everyone im new here obviously.
well I joined the forum to learn how to work on my girlfriends grand fathers '04Focus. Well I have been driving his car on and off for about a month and it started to over heat this weekend so I checked the collant levels and it was low. so I had a mechanic check it out this morning and he quoted me about $600 with parts and labor.

here is the list he gave me
thermostat- he said the housing was $125 for just the part
water pump- he said was another $140 just the part
coolant- he said 2 bottles for $20
and I asked him about a tune up.
he said the tune up parts were about $120 for oil, oil filter, spark plugs, fuel filter.
labor $240
by my calculations
125
140
020
120
240
total $645

I know i can do most of is not all of this myself. just need to read up on how to do it. I have worked on other cars before like hondas and integras. so this focus is totally newto me.

So off i go to do some research.

 

[firebirdude]

IF you actually have a problem with the thermostat housing and water pump, then his overall price seems pretty reasonable. Any stealership charges ~$100/hr in labor and most mom&pop garages charge ~$60/hr (it can vary quite a bit). So $240 for thermo housing, water pump, fuel filter and all plug replacement seems fair to me. I'm no expert on the 04 Focus, so I don't how difficult it really is... but it certainly doesn't seem like he's ripping you off.

Though $120 for the "tune up parts" seems a bit steep as the plugs are probably only $8-$10 each and the fuel filter is like $15?

 

[bigluelok]

Can I just replace the thermostat or do i have to replace the entire housing?

 

[felixthecat]

Can I just replace the thermostat or do i have to replace the entire housing?

On the D-techs it the whole thing.

 

[bigluelok]

Thanks Firebirddude and felixthecat