Thermostat in my car that has a 3.1 V6 Sticks- Cost $200 -I thought Thermostats were easy to replace?

Question

This is a 97 Chev Malibu. I thought most thermostats were by the radiator - why should it take 2 hours worth of labor plus the cost of the part to replace this? I remember older cars growing up that my Dad would pop a thermostat in within 15-20 minutes. I can't believe that even on the newer model cars that you could move a thermostat that much that it would be so damn hard to get to? Or is my mechanic full of crap?

Answer 1

number one the thermostat is in a horrid place on that car (behind the exhaust crossover) and number two they probably also power flushed the radiator and heater core......this is a fair price if they flushed it....i think labor on that t-stat in the book is over an hour.....

Answer 2

Yep, its not the cost of the part but the labor to do it. Most shops charge well over $75 dollars an hour plus 3 times the price for the part. That's why we tend not to want to head there first when we have a problems. My 95 Monte Carlo (3.1 V6 ) was the hardest thermostat I've ever had to change, lots of four letter words on that job...Its in a very hard spot to reach and there was allot of other things that had to be moved. Your mechanic should of explained that it was labor intensive before he started. On the other hand if your water pump ever goes , it can be replaced in 15 minutes....

Good Luck...

Answer 3

thermostats are easy. But gain access to the the thermostat. On older cars and almost all V8 thermostats are located on the top of the engine, very easy to get to. But on a small engine and tight place like like with a Malibu it gets hard to work around. Many parts need to be taken out and some moved to get to it. This process could take seconds or almost an hour. But once u gain access to the thermostat it is very easy to take out put a new gasket and put it back into the car. I have never worked on a 97 Malibu but i worked on a later year and the are fairly close quarters under the hood. I hope I answered your question accordingly.

Answer 4

According to alldata (which is what all the mechanics and dealers use...not available to consumers) the book time to replace the thermostat is 1.4hrs and you must remove the air cleaner housing and the thermostat housing. The part is $15.80 from the dealer. so depending on the hourly rate if the shop that $200 could be about right. Although it is considered a skill level C job so anyone that has torn into cars before should have no problems!

Answer 5

The book time to change the thermostat is 1.4 hrs. I'm not sure if that includes the drain and fill time. One thing is for sure , thermostats can be in several different places and under harnessess, brackets, etc especially on tranverse mounted engines. I have 87 GN that I can stand in the engine bay, but with todays standards, you can't even do that with any new vehicle. You can't compare older cars to knew when performing work on them because everything is in a much smaller space these days. $200 seems excessive, but that also depends on where you live. I would expect the price to be different from here on Long Island, one of the most expensive places to live in the US, compared to the same job performed in the middle of Montana. No offense to anyone from Montana BTW, but you get the point. The price can vary, but the book time should not.

Answer 6

The thermostat is actually located on the engine itself, and most of the time takes an hour or so to replace, a pretty easy and cheap job for a backyard mechanic as mentioned by another member. It shouldnt require a radiator flush (unless there is further damage or you are due for one anyways). A lot of mechanic shops are rip offs, but unfortunately, unless you know a gearhead, you can only hope to find a decent shop.

Answer 7

I've worked on cars all my life and I've never seen a thermostat in the radiator. a 1997 V6 thermostat is easy to change and not that expensive. granted there is a lot of stuff on a motor nowadays but I'd say you were taken advantage of.

Answer 8

lol, that is funny, I too used to help my dad work on old cars and trucks growing up. However vehicles today are so way different than they used to be. When your dad worked on vehicles they had motors where everything was easily accessible or he would probably only have to pull one or two things to get to something, well today's vehicles have to practically be dismantled all together just to change the smallest of factory part that was supposed to last the life time of the car (ug). I just helped my husband replace our heater core in our car and we had to pull the entire dash and all out to get to it. That was a chore. Anyway, I hope this helps. :o)

Answer 9

on my car you have to remove the alternator ,then the a/c compressor and mounting braket and then you can get at the thermostat,but only cost 140.00
two hrs for the 3.1 sounds high but i havent done one so i cant comment,call other shops for an estimate
does this include shop supplies ,antifreeze ,etc

Answer 10

Painless Performance Thermostat 30110 $39.99

this is the cost of your thermostat for your car at autozone.com and it dont look like the thermostats I've changed in my old cars or trucks either so chalk one up for technology.