X748 radiator replacement

My x748 was picked up by the local JD service guys here in Australia. After a week they identified my problem was a leaking radiator. A quote just arrived which I’ve converted to US$’s:
$462 to identify the leak
$941 for a new radiator plus $25 freight
$357 for fitting of the new parts.

I don’t think I need to ask the “am I being ripped off” question as obviously I am.

My question is, how hard is it to fit a new radiator? I am thinking of challenging the identification charge, then pick it up and replace it myself with an OEM (probably from the US as there are no suplliers here).

Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Phil

radiator here in USA at local dealer is $541 / $739 in your dollars, I think a good look should show it to not be that hard to replace
$462 ($337 in US ) is ridiculous to hunt a leak !

JoeM(GA) said:

radiator here in USA at local dealer is $541 / $739 in your dollars, I think a good look should show it to not be that hard to replace
$462 ($337 in US ) is ridiculous to hunt a leak !

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Thanks Joe, I appreciate your research. It looks like I’m stuck as the machine has been dissasembled. If I source from the US at this time of year its likely the parts won’t arrive till the new year - which is a shutdown period down here. We need more service competition!!

Cheers
Phil

Wow that is a lot money for a evaluation / diagnostic test time...... That would come to almost 8 hours of trying to find a leak at 60.00 dollars an hour...... I will bet good money that their rate book doesn't show that extreme amount of time for that.......

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

Wow that is a lot money for a evaluation / diagnostic test time...... That would come to almost 8 hours of trying to find a leak at 60.00 dollars an hour...... I will bet good money that their rate book doesn't show that extreme amount of time for that.......

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Also 4 hours for fitting seems very high. I could fit a radiator in my Car in less time!

I would contact Bertsmobile, he’s a member on this forum, as he would have the best idea on costs in your country. Knows what he is doing and will give you an honest answer, which you may or maynot like.

Many thanks, I’ve sent him a PM.
Cheers
Phil

PMY said:

Also 4 hours for fitting seems very high. I could fit a radiator in my Car in less time!

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It is not a car.
I can rebuild some of my motorcycles faster than I can remove the carb from a lot of chainsaws.

YEs he has and he got an answer .
Current rate for shop mechanics down here is $ 120 / hr. Monopoly money.
Most JD dealers charge the book rate for jobs.
All full time techs on this site know just how long it can take to diagnose an obsecure problem.
In most cases nearly twice as long as it does to fix it.
I do not charge for a diagnosis and most independents do not either, although most will charge a refundable quotation fee.
Looks like his dealer does.
These are complicated machines and it goes back to what I keep advising.
Buy the JD technical manual.
The $ 100 cost would have been a lot less than the diagnosis on this mower.
JD also have the annoying habit of not ignoring reasonable wear so usually will return the mower is as close to as new condition as possible.
THis of course means that a lot of parts that still have a lot of service hours get replaced.
The closest JD Dealer charges $ 175 for a safety check , $ 325 labour on tractor style ride ons + parts for a service on a running mower.