Van,
This is just my opinion, not trying to defend the shop in any way.....I do not see any way that they could have done anything working on the front end, driving the car etc, to cause the freeze plug to come out. They are pressed in and usually only fail after many miles of driving and a bit of cooling system neglect that causes them to rot to the point that they will not stay in.
Now, depending on which plug it is, and how hard it is to get to, $225 might not be a bad price. There are several freeze plugs that depending on the car they are in, require the motor to be half removed to properly replace them. That is probably why they used the rubber , expandable type one to begin with. Did they offer you a choice the first time ? If so, did you choose the less expensive repair ? Like I said, I am not trying to defend them, just showing a different point of view.
I really cannot think of anything that someone could do, including yourself, that would cause a freeze plug to come out of the block, it was just it's time. The only mistake the shop might have made was to install the rubber type plug without letting you know of the possibility of a future failure, and offering you the choice at the time to do the job right. I don't really know the entire story and never will as I was not there to hear the conversations. Now one thing I will say is that they should have gotten your consent to do the repair the second time for the $225. If they just did it without asking you, then they were wrong. If it was my shop, assuming that I got talked into doing the cheap repair the first time, I would have probably deducted the $80 from the second bill, just for good will. But, I never would have done it the cheap way to begin with !
Tim,
There are certain "freeze" plugs in a small block that you just cannot get to in the car to drive in a new one. That is probably why they used the rubber one as they can be installed with virtually no clearance at all.
In the end, it sounds like there was some lousy communications, maybe both ways. Our industry does not need this type of press, but then again, if the plug takes 4 hours to replace due to its location, the customer has to know it is going to be expensive to do the job. If van lets me know which plug came out, I have a 71 I can look at and give you a pretty good estimate as to how much time it takes to replace it correctly.
I know this probably did not help matters, but hopefully shed some light on the subject from another point of view.
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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
1971 Heavy Chevy - original owner
Team Chevelle #100