Seems to be a popular subject here lately.


The other day when changing the oil I noticed that coolant leaking somewhere around the waterpump area or maybe the thermostat housing and dripping down.


Last fall my bleeder T broke and it seemed the hoses were starting to soften up.
I figured if I have to change the waterpump or thermostat housing I might as well just go all out and change all the hoses at once instead of piecemeal.


My wife pointed out do I really want to be crawling around while the weather is still crappy and why not just see what the dealer wants to do it.


So I gave them a call. Service writer kept trying to talk me out of doing it.
The Rover is '06 and just turned over to 90,000.


I'm trying to tell the guy that they are the original hoses, 10 years old, and I'm not going to just change one or two because then sure enough another will blow.


Now I have been pricing the parts, with the exception I had been having a hard time finding the hoses to go to the rear seat heater, so I know I what I am in for parts wise.
The guy says we don't even have all the parts, but I will get a price and call you back.
A couple hours later he calls and I almost fell over- $4,400 to change the hoses and water pump.
I Know the parts are around $1,400, but $3000 for labor. I can't believe it would be a three day job for book rate.
I told my wife I could take a week off from work to do it and come out ahead.

 

You didn't actually ask any questions lol.

Are you asking for opinions or just reassurance?

I'd have to say - hose failures are actually very rare on these, but the plastic components are a sure-thing.

I'd just replace the bleeder tee with a brass thing ($5) sounds like you handled that though.

Really the tstat housing is the weak link. Mine was just the upper, but now that I put off the project a bit, it's multiple areas upper and lower (glad I got the full assembly).

Maybe $120 if you get a good deal or something.

$4400? Personally I'd wait till 150k or when you're doing major work or something and have to do hoses anyways. I have 107k on mine and the tstat housing is my only issue - hoses seem fine, even heater hoses.

 

Yeah, no real questions, just kind of venting.
Dealer rate here is around $125hr. I can't believe they figure three solid days of work to change hoses.

 

That is definitely nuts. Even the prices for the parts alone are crazy. Atlantic British has a whole cooling hose replacement kit (genuine LR parts) for $470. Add in another $110 for the rear cooling system heater hose and you're still at less than half of what you quoted above for parts alone.

 

And if you wanted to do the thermostat housing plus thermostat ($120) and the water pump ($120), you could add those in. Then, you're up to about half of your total parts cost before.

FYI, they have a video on replacing all the cooling system hoses as well.

 

That seems a bit high for sure. I over ordered some bits and pieces, so I have some extra stuff. I opted to pull the intake and put new seals in it, VVT seals, etc. It was a project.

I ordered all my own parts, and took it to an independent, it was nowhere near 4k. That was about 130k miles. I did a new water pump at the same time, just for insurance.

 

I also had a revamp of the cooling system done in 2014. I asked the tech to change "all the easy hoses" and I ended up with quite a collection of spare parts...but it sure didn't cost anywhere near $4k. I didn't do the water pump though.

I mean it was in the hundreds..including labor.

 

The set at Atlantic british won't work because of the rear heat.
All the other hoses are the same but the heater hoses are different. It looks like they have a "T" in them that carries the coolant to the back. There are two different rear heater hoses a "front" and a "center". The center is a pair that appears to be about 6 or 7 feet long. They are about $500 for those two sets.
The guy at Atlantic British told they don't have the hoses for the rear heat and their "package" set is strictly for no rear heat vehicles. He told me I would have to get them from the dealer.


I don't have a problem with the parts. There actually is a lot more to all the different hoses, as a lot of them are assemblies with pipe sections and fittings that come with them.

 

Wow I was not aware that the AB one was only for front-heat vehicles.

I will say I also have an 06, my hoses are fine. Not brand new mind you but I trust them enough to commute to work ~500 miles a week.

If you really want to get everything changed maybe work with the dealer on it. They usually try to match other dealer prices in the area and mine lets me bring my own parts, so if you need a few bits from them and the rest from the AB kit then do it that way.

Otherwise I would just do the bleeder T, and the entire t-stat housing, the plastic bits in the engine bay definitely wear out. Surprisingly not the worst engine work I have had to do.

 

Actually, this video is very simplified and it does not show any important bits.Per example, first hose on top of the pile at the beginning of the video is never mentioned and although it looks small ( the one with an infamous plastic T bleeder ) is not so easy to replace and that is why 10 hours if labor comes in play right there .That part that goes deep into an engine bay will require to take both intake manifold covers off just to get your hands into that tight space to replace it. This was the only part in the engine bay that I did not changed, maybe next time.