It's been running great, I bought it a few months ago and just installed new tires. In a routine brake inspection I noticed that the pads needed replacing, so I took it to the dealer...

Next thing I know, they call telling me that
1) waterpump needs to be replaced
2) heads leaking?
3) cooler leaking
4) diff fluid leaking
5.. 6... and 7...

Grand total? $7500. Nearly twice what I paid for it! It's a great looking truck but if I have to throw thousands of dollars into a an investment that drops like a rock.. I'll dump my losses and get a new one.

Here's my question: do you guys trust the words of the dealer? Are they known to just replace everything remotely needing care? Will pick it up in an hour, NEED ADVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance,

 

Heck man if you took the tire off the inspect the brake pads why not invest another 10 minutes and just replace the pads yourself. It's like really easy. One bolt is all you have to remove. The caliper then opens up and you remove the old pads and put the news one in place.

 

Let's start with this: It's not an emergency for us. Everyone posting a question thinks its an emergency for them, yet the don't title their posts EMERGENCY!!!!

Second of all, none of what you've said is specific enough to help you at all, other than to tell you to NEVER GO TO THE DEALER.

Find a good indie shop, and have them look at it. The only thing the dealer is interested in is selling you a new Rover or making the same sales commission on repairs. Sounds like they're doing a fine job of it.

 

Ah, well, I apologize then. You guys are welcome to delete this (mods) as I didn't know that rule. It's just that I have literally about 45 minutes before I have to pick this thing up, but I'll take it to another mechanic, non-dealer, as advised.

Thanks, and again, my apologies..

 

It's not a rule. It's common sense and courtesy.

If you're interested in help, post complete information of what they say is wrong. But get your truck OUT OF THERE. If you post your location, someone here may be able to suggest a good indie mechanic for you.

 

$7,500! that's a record. i could buy 7 trucks for that much.

 

A new water pump is ~$100 and figure 2 hours of your time if you have never done one before.
Headgaskets are $1500 at a indie shop.
Cooler leaking, need more info.
Leaking diff, need more info.
Never ever take your truck to the dealer unless it is under warranty.

 

Heck, I'd call a $7,500 repair estimate an emergency too!

Always get a second opinion on stuff like this, go to a trustworthy shop and see what they say. As mentioned, if you tell us where you are someone might know a rover specific shop near you. I have saved thousands at my indy mech. Stealership as we call them rarely have your best interest in mind.

Are you seeing any evidence of the problems they listed? I mean, thats some serious stuff there...

 

You guys are like jedi masters to me. :P Seriously, I'm 19, this is my first truck, and that estimate is an absolutely nightmare.

Never visit the dealer, noted on tablet.

So I have it back now, here's what the mechanic wrote:

1) Head leaking coolant (needs head gasket part $900, labor $1200)
2) Pump Deicer plate coolant cap cracked (coolant cap part $40)
3) shaving metal off water pump (water pump part $438, labor $330)
4) ABS lights on (shuttle valve switch part = $947)
5) T-Box leak (not shown part = $125, labor for this part = $900)
6) 3rd Brake light out (part $6, labor $20)

And I may be completely crazy, but the truck sounds terrible since I picked it up.. Wasn't making those little "putters" before..

So.. *cough* I guess I may look into doing alot of this work myself? Is a headgasket installation considered extremely difficult? And which repairs should be made first? (Excluding lights and caps, will get those immediately.) I'm guessing the water pump should be first, because I can just watch the coolant level closely until that is repaired.

Will soon become intimately familiar with the write ups for sure, I'm in Columbia SC by the way, in case anyone knows of a local honest mechanic..

Thanks,
-Matt

 

OK, first of all, you need to learn to work on this thing.

Having one of these as your only vehicle, especially at 19 is an amazingly poor choice, but I made worse ones at that age, so I'm not one to throw stones here ('78 911).

If you are detail oriented, can read well (I mean technical documents), plan well, and stay organized you absolutely can change your head gaskets. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

First of all, you are 19. The dealer saw you as an easy mark. Let's verify everything they said was wrong.

Head gasket: Are you losing coolant? You should be checking it every morning to make sure it's in the same place in the reservoir. If not, it needs to be figured out where its going.

Throttle body heater: easy stuff. And very typically bad. This can be done for $25 in parts they were talking about and a screwdriver and some wrenches. It's not a big deal, and will cause you to lose coolant. This it low hanging fruit. Do it. Order this.

Water pump: I'd like to know how they think this is happening. I want you to grab your fan when its cold and try to move it up and down and back and forth. If it's wobbling on the thing it's attached to, your water pump is indeed bad. With both the throttle body heater and water pump bad, I don't know how they could diagnose head gaskets as well.

If it's bad, it's a couple hundred in parts and a socket set and some specialized tools to remove the fan (36mm wrench at least). These can be had for loan at autozone. No reason to panic.

ABS light: This is not a priority. See some of the stickies. Read up on the three amigos.

T-box leak: Also probably not a priority. Likely to be a ****ty afternoon under the truck with a socket set, some degreaser, a tube of silicone sealer, and enough gear oil to refill it.

3rd brake light: Also not a priority.

Most important: the coolant leaks. These must be taken care of or you will roast to motor. Watch your coolant, watch your temperatures. Shut it down if it starts getting hot.

Go out and get some degreaser (foamy engine brite, simple green, whatever) and carefully spray down the motor and carefully hose it down in the front/lower sections. Don't go high pressure, don't get water in electronics or air boxes. Get it clean so you can tell where it's leaking. That's what you go after.

Here is the factory service manual. Start looking through it for some of the things mentioned so you know what you're getting into and what tools you will need.