Water Outlet replacement

RMinNJ

RMinNJ

Active member
Looks accessible .. unbolt it from the side of the engine. There are some electrical connections and what looks like a collar pin of some sort. What concerns me is the torque on the screws/bolts when putting the new one on...we're attaching a plastic housing to an an aluminum block...both do not sound like they would like a lot of torque.
 
RMinNJ

RMinNJ

Active member
Does anyone know if the water outlet (plastic) is covered under the powertrain warranty ?

I have what looks like a pinhole leak or maybe a crack in it.
 
RMinNJ

RMinNJ

Active member
Water outlet replaced under the Powertrain warranty. Currently at 79K.

The hoses are NOT covered under the powertrain warranty so they didnt ask or replace any of those.

I mentioned some coolant stains on the upper side of the radiator..they did not think that was leaking. The radiator is NOT covered under the Powertrain warranty and they said it was a $1000 job to replace it. I know the bumper has to come off and the dealer is expensive but maybe that included a $500 radiator?
 
carsNskis

carsNskis

New member
RMinNJ said:
Water outlet replaced under the Powertrain warranty. Currently at 79K.

The hoses are NOT covered under the powertrain warranty so they didnt ask or replace any of those.

I mentioned some coolant stains on the upper side of the radiator..they did not think that was leaking. The radiator is NOT covered under the Powertrain warranty and they said it was a $1000 job to replace it. I know the bumper has to come off and the dealer is expensive but maybe that included a $500 radiator?
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Labor is like 5.5 hours on the radiator replacement I think. RnR front fascia 1.0... 2.5 to replace and refill, if you have ac or an automatic trans it's another 1.0 each.. You're looking at 750+ quoted for labor because the rad is cheap.

If you can't diy then see what they'd do it for if you bring in the radiator and remove the bumper yourself? Might save some dough on the quote

[emoji593][emoji809][emoji472]
 
RMinNJ

RMinNJ

Active member
Thanks... if the radiator needs replacement I'd definitely try to do it myself. That's a good point as to why pay them to remove and put back the bumper. Very clever of GM not to include the radiator in the Powertrain warranty....like its something the engine can operate without.

I keep thinking of the Toyota Matrix (Corolla) where the radiator can be replaced by removing 2 bolts.
 
S

suitcasejefferson

Member
The water outlet replacement is fairly easy but can be time consuming. It's in a tight spot. The bolts are E10. There are 3 of them. They come with the new part and are captive in the metal inserts in the plastic. Mine also had a pinhole leak. I got a new one at the dealer, because I needed it right away. The Sonic is the only car I have right now with A/C. I got it from the dealer. It came with everything, including a new gasket, O rings, and clips. The dealer told me they sell a lot of them, so it is likely a defective part. He had 18 of them in stock. I'm sure being exposed to Dexcool didn't do it any good.
 
Blue Moon Sonic

Blue Moon Sonic

New member
Makes me wonder how long yet before mine dies. I'm still waiting for my water pump to start pissing dexcool. Still have that special warranty and on the original water pump. I'm also wondering if being tuned as any effect on the longevity of the parts in the cooling system. The whole car runs cooler with the tune vs stock. Rarely do I see 210*F, with the normal range being from 185-197*F.
 
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suitcasejefferson

Member
Blue Moon Sonic said:
Makes me wonder how long yet before mine dies. I'm still waiting for my water pump to start pissing dexcool. Still have that special warranty and on the original water pump. I'm also wondering if being tuned as any effect on the longevity of the parts in the cooling system. The whole car runs cooler with the tune vs stock. Rarely do I see 210*F, with the normal range being from 185-197*F.
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Do you have a temperature gauge on your Sonic? I have considered cutting one of the hoses and installing a fitting so I can install a sending unit. I have done that on other cars. Without a temp gauge, it could be really close to overheating, and you would not know it.

As far as I am concerned, the best thing you can do for your Sonic, or any other 1996 or later GM car is to get the Dexkill out of it and put some decent coolant in it. I removed the Dexcool from mine, and put in OAT type Prestone. It works fine, and will not plug everything up like Dexkill does. It can be exposed to air with no problems. I just got back from a 1500 mile trip, and it ran fine. I will change it every 2 years/24,000 miles. At least what I can get out. The way the cooling system is designed, you can only get about half the coolant out. But changing only half of it and doing it often will keep it fresh.

IMO, Dexkill is the worst thing to ever happen to cars, at least that is not safety related. And the worst part is, GM knows about it and is still using it. Imagine buying a new $80,000 Corvette or truck with Dexkill in it, and having the engine fail in 100,000 miles or less. GM could use what I put in my Sonic and it would be just fine. It's like they are purposefully trying to make sure their engines have a very short lifespan.
 
A

Ameyejesus

New member
suitcasejefferson said:
Do you have a temperature gauge on your Sonic? I have considered cutting one of the hoses and installing a fitting so I can install a sending unit. I have done that on other cars. Without a temp gauge, it could be really close to overheating, and you would not know it.

As far as I am concerned, the best thing you can do for your Sonic, or any other 1996 or later GM car is to get the Dexkill out of it and put some decent coolant in it. I removed the Dexcool from mine, and put in OAT type Prestone. It works fine, and will not plug everything up like Dexkill does. It can be exposed to air with no problems. I just got back from a 1500 mile trip, and it ran fine. I will change it every 2 years/24,000 miles. At least what I can get out. The way the cooling system is designed, you can only get about half the coolant out. But changing only half of it and doing it often will keep it fresh.

IMO, Dexkill is the worst thing to ever happen to cars, at least that is not safety related. And the worst part is, GM knows about it and is still using it. Imagine buying a new $80,000 Corvette or truck with Dexkill in it, and having the engine fail in 100,000 miles or less. GM could use what I put in my Sonic and it would be just fine. It's like they are purposefully trying to make sure their engines have a very short lifespan.
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I use a eml327 obd2 Bluetooth interface connected to the torque app. Seems to be pretty accurate. Has many functions like temp, rpm, speed, boost gauges. You can also use it to scan codes. Pretty cheap too. I got the unit for 30 bucks and 5 bucks for the app. I got it for my mini cooper because they don't have a temp gauge and are known to warn you to late of high temp. But I use it just the same in the sonic. Love it

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
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