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Repairs needed (TSTAT and control arms)

3K views 34 replies 7 participants last post by  Jeremy Weigel 
#1 ·
Hi. I took my 07 mustang to check on the heating system which was blowing cool air. They mentioned that there is a leak in the bypass hose i think and so for a short-term fix I requested that they add coolant.

The long-term fix according to the garage, would be to replace the upper and lower T-stat housings, sensors, and bypass hose. In addition, both lower control arms need replacing soon. Does anyone have any idea what an estimate to replace these items would run? I'm at the point where the 12 year old car (with 80K miles), still runs fine though Im getting closer to spending between $1,500-$2K per year on repairs and maintenance and not sure if it is money well spent.

Separately, the convertible roof has a tiny hole that causes a slow leak when it rains really hard - I took that to an upholstery guy who recommended using silicone to seal where the hole is (around the stitches).

Appreciate the input.

Thanks,
 
#2 ·
Should all be pretty low tech stuff if you wanted to save some money and do it yourself... at least the control arms. When I went to replace the TSTAT on my 07 gt I had to give it to my mechanic cause we had to remove the intake manifold etc. parts are cheap though


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#3 ·
thanks. Ill search on the forum for instructions on how to replace the control arms. I don't have much in terms of tools so not sure what investment that would be in and of itself but am curious if its fairly straightforward as you mentioned.

do you recall how much it cost for the t stat housing? did you have to replace the sensors and bypass hose also?

i was quoted $1800 for the tstat stuff plus the upper/lower control arms. I dont have anything to compare this to in order to understand if this is fair market or just a large upcharge.
 
#5 ·
Ive been reading replacing the control arms takes a couple hours. Am searching for good videos on it. An tips or references? I see it costs about $280 to replace both front lower controls arms. I still need to buy a couple other tools to actually do the work. Thanks.
 
#6 ·
I'm at the point where the 12 year old car (with 80K miles), still runs fine though Im getting closer to spending between $1,500-$2K per year on repairs and maintenance and not sure if it is money well spent.
The annual depreciation of a new car is far higher than that so any money you spend on preserving your icon is money well spent.
 
#7 ·
I did my front lower control arms a couple years ago, the arms weren't all that much but the install is kind of a pain in the ****. The ball joint studs on these aren't tapered, rather it fits into a sort of pinch sleeve in the spindle, and then a bolt goes through the pinch sleeve and rides in a groove in the stud. I got my driver's side apart easy enough but the passenger side one didn't want to come out and I had to fight with it a lot. Because it's not tapered it's harder to bust it loose and have it just come apart. Also the front control arm bolts are hard to get out with the steering rack in place (they are long, and hit the inner tie rod boot as they come out) but I was able to do it with some finagling of the tie rod ends. There also isn't much downward movement in the arms to separate them, I had to raise the spindle a little with a floor jack to actually get it all separated.

Other than that it's a fairly straightforward job since you don't have to remove anything else in the front suspension to replace them.
 
#12 ·
They may have been referring to rear lower control arms as being easy. They are a piece of cake to replace.

Please get at least two jack stands rated 3000 lbs or more each. They are pretty cheap, really DO NOT do this job just using a floor jack. You'll need to push & pull stuff enough that the stability of two jack stands or a garage lift is a requirement for your own safety.

Besides, the floor jack may come in handy to help hold up the lower control arms to mate to the spindle once they are back on their pivot bolts.

You should also have a set of ramps. Suspension work needs to be final torqued with the vehicle weight on the suspension. and just sitting the car on the ground is a REAL tight squeeze for anybody to work with. With the front sitting on ramps, its easy to final tighten.

DO NOT EVER disconnect or even loosen the sway bar end links with one wheel jacked and the other on the ground. Unless the front is sitting level, there is a LOT of tension wound up in the sway bar.
 
#13 ·
If you don't already own a decent set of tools (rachet/socket set, breaker bar, torque rachet, air tools, etc) it may just be cheaper to buy the LCA's and have an independent shop install them. By them time you purchase tools, jack stands and ramps and cost of your time it will most likely cheaper in the long run.
 
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#17 ·
Yea, that's what I've been contemplating - whether to buy the tools and force myself to learn how to do the work (not a bad idea) or buy the front LCAs and have a garage replace them. I probably just need to take them to another garage and get a quote on replacing just the front LCAs. The quote was $1800 for those and replacing the t-stat thermometer, sensors and bypass hose.

I read in another post that when one front LCA goes, both front LCAs should be replaced. Is this true? I think only my left front LCA is in need of replacement.

Thanks.
 
#18 ·
I would go ahead and replace both. Might as well. If one goes out the other is probably not far behind- then again, when I was younger I had a 1990 Mustang where the driver's side ball joint went out. We just replaced it, and the other one was good until I stopped driving the car 50K miles later (took it off the road around 150K)


But, on this car the one was bad at 70K. I figured if it was going bad that early the other one was probably not far behind.
 
#20 ·
So I got quotes for replacing the front LCAs... parts came out to be ~650 for both. When I went online I found motorcraft LCAs (part #4R3Z3078B and 4R3Z079B) for $354 total. Am I missing something? I find it hard to imagine an upcharge of $300.

Also found labor to replace both LCAs between $260-360. I plan to go back to the most reasonable garage to show the cost of parts but want to make sure Ive got the full picture.
 
#21 ·
If the quotes for the LCA's came from a dealership I can most certainly believe that mark-up.



Front LCA's:


I have bought FRPP kits from this eBay Store and the parts were legit:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-2010-...xbxiBd:sc:USPSPriority!73117!US!-1:rk:10:pf:0



https://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-front-controlarms-0511gt.html


https://lmr.com/item/M3075E/2005-10-Mustang-Ford-Racing-Gt500-Style-Front-Lower-Control-


Find a shop that will install your self supplied parts. ~$200 -$300 labor for both. @$90-$100/hr
 
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#23 ·
You paid $160 in labor for both? I'm in northern VA and cant find labor to install both parts for under $260, not including another $100 for alignment (NOVA has expensive labor for most things...)

I found the motorcraft parts for $354, OEM even more... (https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?partnum=4R3Z3079B).

I assume the ford performance part is superior both in obviously performance (even for a v6?) and at least equal to OEM for longevity? Am I missing any other parts (besides tools, "shop supplies")? Thanks.
 
#25 ·
There are no other parts needed. Keep shopping around for labor quotes to install your provided parts. When I had mine done, I was in & out in just under 2hrs.


Didn't see the $55.40 for shipping from Rod Baker, so that puts them about $15 more than AM or LMR.
 
#30 ·
Most shops that install customer supplied parts will guarantee their workmanship but will not warranty the parts. Watch them as they do the work. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Believe someone already mentioned earlier that final torque of the bolts should be done with suspension loaded, which means they should pull it up on an elevated ramp (alignment ramp in most shops) to do the final torque. Getting the alignment checked wouldn't hurt and performed if needed.
 
#33 ·
Most shops that install customer supplied parts will guarantee their workmanship but will not warranty the parts.
Strange that 2 of the garages here only mentioned they would not warranty anything... I understand not warrantying the parts, even though they would order those regardless and only the mfg's warrant would apply AFAIK. But, not warrantying the labor associated with new parts brought to them seems bizarre.

Getting the alignment checked wouldn't hurt and performed if needed.
Any one know if alignment is needed after this type of work? 2 garages recommended it - the one I'm considering (cheapest) said it's not needed...
 
#31 ·
If you buy a brand new car for $40k, it'll be worth only $15k after five years. That's $25k lost in depreciation alone or $5k/year. If you take out a bank loan to buy the said car, add interest charges to the cost. Then you also have more expensive insurance, and you haven't even started modding it yet.
Your 12-year-old Mustang will have minimal depreciation and even if you spend $2k/year on maintenance/upgrades, you're still well ahead of the game.
 
#32 ·
Yea, I figure when it's time to buy again, I'll purchase like a ~3 year old car that has hopefully taken the depreciation hit. More realistically, I'd buy closer to $20K then $40K, and I think a $20K car might get down to low teens $ but it wouldn't be $5K/yr, perhaps closer to $2K/yr. Still, I figure I come out ahead if I'm closer to $1K/yr in repairs and maintenance, though all it takes is a major issue (transmission, etc) for me to be on the wrong side of the math.
 
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