Curious if I screwed something up.. getting kind of worried now that the damage is done. My duralast gold top battery that I purchased 3 years and 4 months ago bit the dust on Tuesday. I ended up stranded twice around town - walked off without my cell phone (Christmas present that I hadn't set up yet), and relied on the good nature of total strangers to help a girl out. Four hours, a new battery, a case of hypothermia with a mended coolant line later I was able to leave Autozone and go home.

While I was there I got the total run around, kind of lost my temper (embarrasingly so) and while the rep was replacing my battery, he hit the rigid coolant 'return' line that runs atop the radiator (under the fan guard) and snapped it in half (karma?). Seeing as it's colder than a polar bear's toenails outside right now, I figured the line was original and brittle and it was time for it to break. Sure, he could have been a bit more gentle, and yes, I probably could have been doing this myself (and in hindsight should have done) but what was done was done and now I'm wondering what I should do.

He patched it up with 2 hose clamps and flexible hose but I'm worried that if the line is so brittle the pressure from the hose clamps may break it further while I'm driving down the road. Has anyone else replaced this with a solid piece of flexible tubing? Is there anything wrong with doing so?

My mom (the barracuda) thinks I should call management and ask for a further discount on the battery seeing as he broke my coolant line. I personally don't feel like the hassle as I know Rovers are finicky 'creatures' and mistakes can and do happen.

Sorry if this sounds like a 'Dear Abby' letter - haha.. this week I'm at my wit's end. I didn't even mention what happened to my rear hatch door.

TIA

Christina

 

I'm not trying to hijack your thread but I was at the car wash a few months ago, wiping my truck off and this rascal comes over wanting to wipe my car off for a $ or 2. I attempted to decline but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He is wiping off the sides, comes around the back where the door is open, climbs up and stands on the back bumper to wipe the roof off and "SNAP/CRACK." I come around and look and there is a softball-sized hole in the bumper and his mouth is wide open staring at the pieces on the ground. LOL You wanna talk about cussing...


The plastic line that you are talking about doesn't hold any pressure. it just allows the radiator to vent off to the overflow, no big deal. The clamps won't pop off at the splice or anything. But yes, you can substitute just about anything for that plastic pipe. The auto parts store should have a selection in the back of different flexible fuel or hot fluid type hose. If you search the web you can find another OEM replacement cheap enough too. If its not leaking, don't stress about it.

 

I would use the honey attracts more flys than vinegar approach.

Find the part on Atlantic British website and print it out.

Go into the store as calm as can be and ask to speak to the manager.

Explain that you are happy that Autozone provides the battery install service, but with this comes responsibility to do the job right, and in this case it was not. You are now stuck with the need to purchase a new part that cost close to the cost of the battery.

If they cannot order the piece for you, Ask them to refund you the cost of the hose from your battery purchase price.

Don't threaten or claim "or else ".

If they decline your request, ask for the managers name and get the name of the person that installed the battery.

they might start to sweat at this point. If not, go home and write a concise non emotional letter to Autozone corporate explaining the events with photos.

you will get re imbursed some how, im sure.

good luck

 

lol.. hijack away.. I'm not one to fuss over that, your story was hilarious (albeit a bummer for you) and I'm breathing easier - thank you! Now I have to know.. what did you say to the guy that broke your bumper?

Along those lines I was at the grocery store the other morning on another frigid day and I had large clumps of snow and ice building up behind all 4 wheels. It's just part of living in Northern Michigan - you just deal with it and wait for a warmer day to knock it off. So there I am, going into the grocery store and there's a bell ringer with his kettle and bell housing (haha - had to get that in there) sitting there watching me. He jumped up when I got close to the door and said 'you know, you really need to remove that snow behind your wheels.. it's going to do damage to your vehicle'. I looked over at my Rover, then back at the man and said 'it's all good - thanks - I'm waiting for a little bit of warmer weather before I go kicking the ice on the molding. I don't want to do any damage'. He kept going on about how I needed to remove it, I told him that I'd do it later and he said 'I'll do it now!' and jumped up, and started to head over to the Rover. I held up my hand and said 'nope! no, no, nope! I'm good, really..thank you - I'll take care of it later - I don't want to break the molding that it's attached to'. He went back to bell ringing and I went into the store.

When I came out, I put some money in the kettle, looked over at the Rover and the snow was laying in clumps around my tires. He smiled and said 'Merry Christmas'. Hmmmmm.....

 

KD, depending on the ID of the tube, get hold of some neoprene tubing and replace, if possible, the existing vent tube. It's hard for me to envisage the pipe but neoprene is better in the cold than many other plastics as Chubbs will verify.

 

so what you're saying is that you wouldn't take the barracuda approach?

thanks Abran, I'll try that. Note to self: 'unemotional - not having or showing strong emotions'.. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..

yeah, my head was starting to spin when I was in there discussing the possibility of a new battery. The guy just wanted to talk circles around me and by the fifth riddle I lost it, said 'do you really want to help me here because I REALLY could do without the riddles..' He wouldn't give me a straight answer on anything (cost, rebate, warranty coverage, price on a new battery etc.) and my patience was wearing thin. Once I heard that 'snap' I just put my head down on the hood and let hypothermia set in

I'll let you guys know where the unemotional approach gets me.

Thanks again,

Christina

 

thanks Offroad, I'll take a photo tomorrow and show you the patch job. May as well anyway, if I'm going to replace the part and ask for some kind of reimbursement. The battery was $149.99 - $55.00 rebate for the old partial warranty so I forked over $100 to get a new battery and a broken coolant hose. Hope you're enjoying the holidays!

 

I snapped mine while disassembly for a head gasket job. Lucky 8 has them for are $15-$20 if you need it. They are brand new and seem to be a bit more flexible then the one that was on there.

 

I just replaced all that rigid crap with 5/16 coolant line. Routed it in the same way the OEM was routed and supported it under the top fan shroud with several zip ties. I also deleted the silly and troublesome Throttle Body Heater Plate and now I have two less things to worry about with the D2 Cooling system.

Here in TX that plastic rigid plastic turns to the most brittle substance on earth and no way I'd trust it on any of my LR's.

 

Thanks guys - I'll probably end up changing it out when the weather gets warmer with one of the two options. I have to change out my coolant tank again so will probably kill two birds with one stone. Right now I don't want to do anything outside - just want to jump into my flannel pj's and sherpa hoodie, don a pair of wool socks and listen to some tunes. We're supposed to get another five inches tonight.