'98 eclipse - what do you think?

A co-worker of mine has a '98 eclipse 2.0 non-turbo non-awd. The thermostat failed on her over the weekend, and she dropped it off at a local mechanic before she came to work, and he quoted her $50.00 parts and $80.00 labor.

He told her that he can only get her thermostat & gasket from the dealer and it is a special order.

Now, IMHO fel-pro is one of the top gasket makers in the U.S. and I know for a fact that she could get both therm and gasket for between $16.00-$23.00 depending on which therm.

But I don't know much about Mitsubishi. Is there some special therm & gasket that is a dealer item only, or is he taking her for a ride?

I just replaced my thermostat and gasket for $14 for both. You don't need the dealer, and 80 bucks is ridiculous for 20 minutes of labor. Never go to that mechanic again. If you are at all mechanically inclined, you should do it.

yeah thats an outrageous (sp) price! tell that mechanic he is a dick and to go screw himself, and that you'll take your business somewhere else and warn everybody about him.

There's two bolts that hold the thermostat housing on, take the hose off and remove the bolts and that's it....

there will be a shit-ton of coolant though ;)

actually now that I think about it the 1g's have the thermostat on top of the neck so it might not be that much.

go with the fel-pro gasket. i've had to bring back many thermostat gaskets before because they don't fit right that weren't fel-pro. fel-pro's gaskets are like a perfect match.

cool.. thanks guys... I have done tons of domestic thermostats- just never messed around with a dsm - couldn't figure out why it would cost her $50.00 just for parts... I'll be taking care of this very shortly.