> Steve,
> There was a stain from the leak coming fron the top of the tank.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> $65. per hour labor.
> Has anyone with a 3.5 gas not have to do manifold gaskets yet?
Not me. I've had very little go wrong with my 2000 S
> Steve,
> There was a stain from the leak coming fron the top of the tank.
> It does
> have a drain. When the tank was removed the top of the tank was rusted
> away at the fuel pump along with the metal lines.
Could this possibly be an electrical problem? Because the tank appears to
have begun rusting around the pump, could their have been an electrolysis
issue? Perhaps the gasket was bad causing dissimilar metal corrosion? Just
a thought.
> Steve,
> There was a stain from the leak coming fron the top of the tank.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> $65. per hour labor.
> Has anyone with a 3.5 gas not have to do manifold gaskets yet?
Ron, thanks. That helps a lot. I've got a 98 that I've had a fuel smell
coming from for awhile, but no leaking observed on the ground. Guess I'll
have to pull the tank when it gets nearly empty and have a look. Sounds like
you really got screwed by the shop... it doesn't take that long to drop a
tank and install a new one - any idea of what the Flat Rate labor is on that
repair? My guess is that the FR book would give around 2.5 hours for the
job, excluding draining the tank. The $65/hour rate is about the going
rate.... did that include the tow and if so, from how far? I can see that
being pretty high, esp if they had to tow it a long ways, but not $1600!
Then again, at $500 for two catalytic converters (which I haven't bought
yet, but need to) - I can imagine the fuel tank and pump was not cheap. But
I'm with you - Isuzu should have stood behind that one - that's just crazy
to rust out that soon there. Is there anything holding moisture in that area
so it couldn't dry out? Normally, gas tanks will rust out on the bottom,
where the water sits, esp if the tank is partially or nearly empty. Rusting
on the top usually comes from the outside, going in... due to moisture being
trapped up there somewhere.
I have not yet had to do manifold gaskets. I'm pretty sure that my excessive
oil consumption has finally plugged my catalytic converters, or perhaps the
cats being plugged have contributed to my excessive oil use, thereby
exacerbating the situation by plugging them further... so I need to get this
fixed. But no manifold gasket issues yet, that I know of. I will put a
vacuum gauge on the truck and see what it does.
r/
Steve
ron - 14 Nov 2005 03:19 GMT
The odor came first with no signs of a leak. After a while I spotted the
leak in a parking lot. The shop charged three hours labor, 1/2 tank of
fuel in it.
Fuel tank $670
Sending unit $82
Fuel pump $384
Tried an aftermarket pump but it didn't work out.
I drove it the 1 1/2 miles to the shop.
Ron
GreenGas - 15 Nov 2005 11:18 GMT
> The odor came first with no signs of a leak. After a while I spotted the
> leak in a parking lot. The shop charged three hours labor, 1/2 tank of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> I drove it the 1 1/2 miles to the shop.
> Ron
Ouch. Those parts prices are unreal. I don't think the shop screwed you on
the labor, but I wonder what the parts would have cost if you'd bought them
at St Charles Isuzu.... we used to mark up parts to "list" price, which was
nearly double the cost of "jobber", the mechanic's price. The tow would have
been a minimum of $80, but you didn't need it....
Hope this fixes your wagon for a long time....
r/
Steve