Comparing the Price of Used Car to the Price of a New Car

Part 6 - A New Water Pump
I brought it back to Sacramento Carburetor & Electrical. I didn't give the the entire patient history, partly because I was embarrassed, and partly because I didn't mind them having the impression that their original thermostat diagnosis was incorrect. Their paperwork on this car would indicate that the problem was still probably the thermostat, the one they had replaced two months prior.

They took action immediately. They replaced the thermostat for long enough to realize that it wasn't the thermostat causing the problem. A new batch of tests revealed that the coolant simply wasn't moving through the system. It must be the water pump, they surmised. The recommendation was clear: Replace the water pump. It took one day, and they replaced the timing belt while they were in up in there. $589.

The timing belt itself would have been a timely maintenance procedure, which alone would have been $400 at a dealership. Most of that expense is labor, disassembling the engine to get to that belt. This side-effect belt-replacement made the expense more palatable.

This felt like the final solution. After six months of trying to get this fixed, another missed diagnosis would be almost funny.

Out of the shop that day, the car worked like a charm!

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