My labor guide does not go up till 2006, it's not been "upgraded" in awhile but most of the time it's about 5 years until the new vehicles start trickling in.
Well while I been saving money on manual upgrades over the years without consiquence it appears I have finally paid for it.
2006 Chevrolet Trail Blazer 6.0 SS - Heater Core R/R.... What is the labor hours for the job?
Anyway the symptoms are the same, coolant smell from the vents when the heat is on, and then later down the road it just stinks all the time. Most of the people let the heater cores go until they are filling up the air boxes with coolant and shorting out the electronics.
Incase anyone was wondering, the entire dash and reinforcement bar has to come off. It's pretty straight forward except for the fact the front pillar covers have to be removed before you can remove the front trim panel from top of the dash. Lots and lots of bolts as always, but I have to admit the newer vehicles have come a long way. In terms of design... We are replacing a heater core on an 80,000 mile vehicle.
So here are some photos of the task. It would be nice to know how much I took it in the ass for underestimating this seemingly innocent looking "Chevrolet", but isnt that what makes a Chevy so great? So yeah I lost my ass somewhere on Wendsday, but I think thats because I am juggling 3 things at once.
What can I say... I have a soft spot for GM.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Yuck, did the coolant become acidic? At work we have test strips for that.
I am not sure but I hope it didn't turn acidic because I got a feeling about a gallon of that stuff stayed in the engine even though I drained it out thru the lower radiator hose.
I got a feeling the damage was caused by the "DEALERSHIP" who replaced a broken exhaust manifold bolt on the passengers side rear. Ironically both the heater core lines almost block access to that bolt. Early this year I did a tune up on this beast and noticed the broken bolt. It was still under warranty then so the dealership covered it under warranty for him. He claims to have been smelling coolant for the past 4-5 months so do the math. Now of course with the weather getting cool it became un-bearable, and worse yet the warranty was up.
I have noticed that GM's "Dex Cool" is highly corrosive compared to other coolants. Many GM engines with the orange coolant show serious pitting in high flow areas, usually at gasket mating areas. It's a bad idea to try and push Dex-Cool to it's rated 100,000 mile service interval. I would suggest changing every 50,000.
I might get him back in here for another flush and fill, but this time I want to use a yellow or green coolant, with instructions to change every 30-40K.
I use to have a bottle of them test strips too but I used them all long ago. I think the chunkiness of the coolant is due to the fact it over the months this stuff has evaporated and become somewhat stagnate. The accumulation over time lead to this pudding like red coolant in the air box. Considering the coolant that come out of the radiator was NOTHING like the stuff in the air box I am pretty sure my theory is accurate.
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
