[JonathanW]

Hey gang, bought a used 2006 mustang V6 hard top in 2011 (April). has 81,000 KM give or take. Been happy enough with it, but when I took it for an oil change (my 3rd) on August 16th 2012 I also asked for a tune. They found:

soft suspension
leaking differential
rusted brake rotors
tires had " a bit of life left"


now seeing as how I'm not super rich, I decided to tackle a few of these problems at once. I called today for the diff leak and rusted brake rotors, unfortunately the shop owner couldn't tell me right away an estimate, so I waited for him to call back. I waited a while and seeing as how I wanted to go out to do errands and eat lunch, I called him. He said he was 'pissed at his mechanics' for not documenting properly what was wrong with the differential exactly as well as the brakes. So he went off memory, saying the front rotors had to be replaced, the back rotors had to be milled, and the leaking diff gasket needed to be repaired.


he quoted me at $785... I was shocked, I thought this whole process would be around 300 or less for both issues. I have heard many good things about this shop so I don't think I'm getting screwed around.

Does that price sound right to you? keep in mind this is small town western Canada. (P.S no I don't work on my own car, I have no tools, experience or a proper place to do so).

[DillonT]

find a friend who works on cars and have them do it. those are all EASY jobs. i charged someone $100 to do two rear calipers pads and rotors, brake lines, diff gasket is simple. so are front rotors. your idea of $300 isnt bad. maybe 350 with parts

[Mcot2]

Just looking around the rotors are pretty cheap.

http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/F...A0A6A60A1.aspx

I've never done them myself but Ive heard it's pretty easy. You should search YouTube for help.

The diff gasket looks cheap enough but could be tougher to fix yourself.

Try to get a line item quote from the mechanic. See how much the parts cost versus labor. The labor is going to be high for sure ($105/hr in my area). The parts will also have a steep markup. See if you can get the parts elsewhere and bring them in. It's worth a shot, good luck!

[lowbudgethero]

lol rusted rotors are the oldest trick in the book

[Mustang7302]

Rusted rotors are not a big deal, they rust every night in a humid climate (or after a recent rain). You only need to be concerned when they become warped from abuse or excessive life. Warped rotors are fairly obvious to identify, the car/steering wheel will shudder under moderate braking.

Leaking diff could need a little more attention. Get under the rear of the car and look at the center pumpkin. If you can identify that the leak is from the rear cover then you can do the fix yourself (here is a nice guide: http://mustangforums.com/forum/4-6l-...al-fluid.html). If the leak is from the front of the snout where the drive shaft meets the diff, then you'd be better off letting a shop fix the leak. If you cannot figure out which end is leaking, get some simple green and spary down the diff and clean off all the grim; drive it for a day or two and then check again.

Soft suspension is from age/miles. You can get new shocks when your budget allows. As long as the tires will pass inspection, they're fine too.

[AABanned]

There should be nothing wrong with rotors on an 06. Unless they're warped, they woulda told you, then they're fine.

The suspension should be fine... If it feels fine to you, and isn't leaking oil, then it's fine.

[JonathanW]

I plan on getting the new shocks/struts in October. He told me the rusted rotors are making the braking pulsate, which is true... deifnitely feel the car vibrating a bit when braking at a certain speed.

[DPdurhamDE]

find a local technical school and see if they are able to do it they dont chrage for work just parts. if your really hurting for cash.

[JonathanW]

naw, not hurting crash really, just would like to watch my money for buying my next car... I'll go through with this, the Appt is next Thursday.. he said on the phone the price "might change" so I'm really hoping it's going to go down... but yeah probably not hah

[Kenny_McCormick]

If they weren't kind enough to top off the diff, you might want to do that.

[atomicbadgerman]

Change the rotors yourself, at least. Shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours, including beer time.

[AirSin2000]

Save yourself some money, and swap your rotors/brakes yourself. Differential, like said above can be done easily by yourself or by a mechanic depending where it leaks from.

I did a full rotor swap/new brakes on my mom's Hyundai in about 2-3 hours time. It's not difficult in the least, if you have the right tools. Only reason I changed out the rotors is because the brake pedal would pulsate when I was applying the brakes, which meant warped rotors.

Doing stuff like this yourself, saves you money, and teaches you something new.

[AntiHeightPunk (Banned)]

machine dem rotors not replace

[Kenny_McCormick]

Originally Posted by AntiHeightPunk

machine dem rotors not replace

VERY, VERY rarely do you find used rotors with enough meat left to turn them and have any life left. I have had it done once, on a car I did brakes on just because I had the front end torn apart, not because it needed them.

[CODY_21]

machining rotors can be a bad idea depending on there age, if they have been cut before, and where you live. Brakes keep you from hitting things, remember that when your thinking on cheaping out. Suspension is easy worl, replacing shocks/struts is just a matter of a few bolts on the shocktower, the spindle and they drop, very straightforward and easy task. Have a friend thats into working on cars to the diff for you, just to be safe.

[JonathanW]

the leaking diff has been taking of, the front rotors have been replaced. Calling the garage tomorrow for an appt. for the back rotors. they couldnt be milled, getting new ones. I'm leaving the suspension, probably for a long time, he told me they only put one "X" next to the suspension on the paper, meaning not urgent.

[AirSin2000]

And if you're going with OEM style rotors, more then often, it'll be cheaper to buy new rotors then to have them machined.