The $500.00 price was just to get you to bring the van in.

Like the old saying goes:

Anything worth doing right is doing it Yourself, Anything done expensive is having it done by somebody else.


JaY

 

do i smell parts pricing gouging and inflated labor hours?

get your Aero out of there before they do more damage to it and then demand a fortune to repair their screwups.
it is possible that the intake manifold corroded thru in AZ because of your high alkaline water there and the prior owners used tap water in cooling system.

4L intake manifolds are a dime a dozen at the junke auto parts emporium, bet that's where they would get the replacement.
bet they cut off your radiator hoses

if desperate and money is an issue, one can build up any corroded metal hole on the intake manifold with "liquid putty plastic steel" and then file down any machined flat surfaces.

i've repaired tractor cylinder bores and exterior block cracks from freezing with the stuff and still running 30 years later. also did insertable liner top machined retainers in the block with the stuff in a diesel with 18:1 compression

call around to your local yards for best price on intake manifold and go inspect. get it, gasket set, 1 gal of antifreeze, new radiator hoses, new belt on hand.
set aside one weekend to replace the parts.
get a Chiltons repair manual for step by step with pics.
take pictures and notes as you go for re assembly
make yourself $100 per hour on the weekend

 

Thanks for the reassurance and positive attitude. I needed to hear that. You mentioned price gouging...... This dealership uses AllData for their shop manuals and labor quotes which he and I discussed when I originally called to get a quote. I also subscribe to AllData for both of my vehicles - have for years and years and I told him that. So he must have forgot about that and forgot that I have access to the same pricing guide as he does. The cost of the main repair doubled since yesterday and the labor doesnt change from the manifold and the gasket. I called two other Ford dealerships to get a quote on that part and both of them were $270.00. So there's $250 dollars he's just absorbing..... I should say SPONGING from me. And I still am in total disbelief, denial, awe, whatever you want to call it about the price of the hose replacement! So here's what I think I'm gonna do. I'm going to go down to Pick-N-Pull, find my van (or a Ranger) and basically do a tear-down. Then if I'm still confident about doing the job, I'll obtain a manifold and do the job myself as you suggest. Talk to me a little more about replacing mine with a used, junque emporium, one. Is this even feasible? Won't the same problems exist on another 96 Aero? Also, how can I find out which other models and years share that manifold? Does the price for a new one from the dealer sound too high? Unfortunately, I'm unable to find one aftermarket anywhere online or otherwise.

Thanks to everyone who has replied with their words of sympathy and support.

Steve

 

Thanks Copper! I meant to say that yesterday but got kinda overwhelmed and broadsided by the direction this issue has taken.

Thanks again!

Steve

 

Steve,

Intake manifolds normally won't corrode like that. If you pull one from the junkyard, it should be plenty good.

The reason the manifold corrodes is the same as that on our home faucet. If a leak is taken care of right away, everything is fine. However, leave a leak long enough, even a very small one, and the water will eat a groove right on the valve seat.

With that said, I believe XLT4WD90 and 96_4WDR are right. Clean up the corroded area with wirebrush and solvent, fill it with JB Weld epoxy, and then sand it down smooth. Not much pressure there (16psi) so that should hold without problem. The weakness of the joint is not in the sealing quality of the surface, but in the difference in thermal expansion between the steel head and the aluminum intake manifold.

Good luck.

 

Just got home from picking her up. It almost got ugly as they were not going to release her to me until I paid a $47.00 "diagnostic fee". The more they tried to stand their ground, the louder I got and proceeded to announce the discrepencies in what they attempted to charge me for the various things. Finally the 'service manager' we'll call him 'Biff' came over and tried to see if there was anything he could do to help resolve the situation. I said "Yes, biff there is. Have your service advisor explain to all of us why San Tan Ford charges $280.00 to replace the radiator hoses." Biff says, "You must be mistaken sir." I didn't say a word and just handed him a copy of the email. He immediately directed the lot boy to get my vehicle up front "immediately", apologized to me for the inconvenience, frustration and poor judgement on behalf of his SA and wanted to make sure they had my mailing address so that "San Tan Ford could make this situation right for me." This was at 8:30 am so as you can guess there was a fair amount of people milling about who witnessed this tet-a-tet. I just shook my head and walked out.

I'm going to go hunting for a manifold here in a little bit. I'll keep this thread updated as I undertake my "flame-ridden baptism". Thanks again everyone!!

 

junke auto parts emporium - Still grinning from that one Copper. But damn Dude, are you seeing anyone about the minor blinking issue?

Steve

 

San Tan Ford, sounds like a dealer bore job.
i've been trying to tell board members that Ford dealers and dealer mechs don't want to work on our Aeros because of access issues and what they feel are insufficient flat rate hours.

guru,
you're on the right track now. not to worry about loosing another intake manifold to corrode thru. i've never seen anymore than light pitting corrosion.
taking one off in the junke emporium will fine tune your DIYer skills for the Aero
get another tube of gasket sealer. you'll need it for the valve cover etc gaskets. Permatex "Right Stuff" is tops. I'm old school, Super 300 brush on for me.

 

Well it's not just Ford.........My Son had a 87 Olds Cutless Ceria with the 2.5 Pontiac 4-cyl engine in it. I called the local dealer to have a high idol problem looked at. The guy on the phone told me that they were'nt taking in anything older than 7 yrs old, Only 7 yrs or newer. I asked to speak to the manager. When he came on the phone I told him what the other guy said. Then I said you can't do that and he said Yes we can. We were told by the Main Office too. I said what about the people with older cars. He said So What about them. I guess they're out of luck. I said You can tell the Main office that the company I work, I'm in charge of buying 10-12 new cars a year for it and it will be a Cold day in Hell before I ever buy a car from you or one of your brands ever again.

(I don't really work for a company like that, But I would liked to have seen his face when he thought he was losing that many new sales a year.)

JaY

 

Well, I got started yesterday. I went ahead and pulled everything between the grill and the fan to open up some working room even though the book doesn't call for it. Pulled the A/C an the TB. Getting ready to jump headlong into it this morning. One of the things I find a bit humorous is the way the book instructions are presented so casually as if to say "please pass the salt". A few of the steps are a bit more involved than what is instructed when taken at face value, but it doesn't elaborate or inform you that you'll need to be a contortionist, an act of god and a voodoo chicken to be able to pull it off.

 

None of those are required but as all the veteran wrenchers around here will readily testify.....some blood sacrifice is required to join our esteemed ranks.

 

When do you know that you've met the required donation quota. It seems like I just keep giving and giving and.......

 

Question:
I don't see how a re-torque is possible for this job. The only way one could re-torque most of these bolts is to tear it back down. Am I missing something or is that correct?

 

It's not practicle to retorque the Aero. Maybe there's a threadlock formula that is suitable in our situation.
I'm replacing the rear main seal on my Escort and the manual says to apply a stud and bearing sealer or equivalent on the metal outer mating surface.

 

the critial torque is the lower manifold to block and head seals. i would install it, torque to specs and let set overnight, retorque next morning and finish assembly
use a Blue non permanent Thread Locker