I own a wheeled toilet! Vent about automotive nightmares

then got the bright idea to buy a blown motor sebring convert.....the 2.7 nightmare....


with a busted front end too!! but new top so.....

junk yard wants 12 hun for motor.....be here fri.

this one is 5 yrs old and guy said he changed oil THREE times in five yrs


so the cause was the pcv hose was 100% plugged with oil skank and it spit the front seal and he drove it till it clink,clank,clunked...... rocket science...lets see..i put a new motor in for mucho money...virtually never change the oil for five years.... hit a few deer.... pop the motor and sell it to gene for 3 hun!!!
Yeah, thats the ticket
no wonder mopar almost sank... horror's to work on. oh yeah the water pump is inside the motor, driven by the timg chain! frikin beautiful....


they copied from lamborgini......

Well I was going to hold off posting this to save a little face but I got to come clean.........

Last November customer came in with an '03 Civic 1.7l with overheating problem. Found the radiator was cracked at the neck. against my better judgement I allowed them to supply the radiator and thermostat. I installed them and vacuum filled the system and ran it for 1/2 hour and 1 mile with no problems. Customer calls 1 month later complaining about overheating and lack of heat through the ducts. I tell him to bring it back.

No show for 3 appointments. It finally came back 3 weeks ago...... on the hook. It overheated so bad it shut down. Quick check shows blown head gasket at the least. so i suggest an engine swap with a junk yard motor. Customer agrees.

Well it seems like Honda supplies way too many damn motors for their cars and none are standard swaps anymore. My VIN decoder shows that it is a non VTEC motor so that is what I ordered. Motor even comes with the wiring harness so an easy swap. We install and get trouble codes. Bottom line was that it was indeed a VTEC motor and my tech didn't tell me the motor was different than what came out of the car. Junk yard offers to supply a Non VTEC Computer so we don't have to change motors again to get the right one. well Honda has antitheft on the engines so the replacement computer will not start the car.

So I am now changing motors again. Yeah. And I am personally doing this one. A real money maker job this was.......NOT

ETA: While running the first replacement engine, it overheated!!!! Come to find out the customer installed stop leak after the radiator replacement and it was clogging the radiator. Huge hunks of crap came out of the the radiator after I back flushed it. So we replaced the rad so I can stand by this job.

Oh how I miss the old days of 350 small blocks....................... So easy and no complications !!!!



Rick

I hear that Rick. This is why from now on I'll never buy new again .... unless new refers to a frame-off restored late 60's - early 70's truck.

I think if all of us did this, they'd change their tune in Detroit .... but don't do that or you guys will price me out of the market!



Good lord Gene - what an abortion of an exhaust system on that turd! I found those same chunks too in the old Blazer engine. The oil looked like roofing resaturant - same consistency too.

Rick 386 wrote:... the customer installed stop leak after the radiator replacement

Wow! Sounds like a defective customer. At the very least we would have to call it "contributory negligence", and you have really bent over backwards to accommodate him. Put the stop-leak in just in case??? Probably to be safe he put in three times the recommended amount. Better check whether he drained the crankcase and refilled with Marvel Mystery Oil while he was at it. I keep calling the customer "he", but it's probably "she" and she must be cute, either that or you are exceptionally tolerant.

Lots of manufacturers add stop leak at the factory. I add it to every coolant job I do. Yamaha used to recommend Bars-Leak be added whenever doing cooling system service on their bikes. I recall this from the 1981 YZ125 owners manual.

But there's a thing called ....... moderation.

SMITTY wrote:Lots of manufacturers add stop leak at the factory. I add it to every coolant job I do.

Is that why as my cars get older and have several cycles of coolant drainings and refillings, the heater seems to perform less well?

rberq wrote:Is that why as my cars get older and have several cycles of coolant drainings and refillings, the heater seems to perform less well?

Could be 1 possibility. If possible, maybe you mcould just flush the heater core. Also if you have access to the heater box, try blowing some compressed air through the fins of the heater core. They seem to attract hair, leaves, whatever. Replacing A/C evaporator cores reveals a ton of crap clogging the fins.

As far as my customer, it started off with a he and then SHE got involved. He is not the problem............

Update: Second motor was swapped. Correct ECM installed and the car is fine. The second motor was even less money than the first and lower mileage to boot. But now it is sitting here waiting for the customer to come get it. And now they claim they are waiting for their income tax refund to come so they can pay me. They say they didn't realize that it was going to be so much. I guess they threw away their copy of the estimate I prepared and gave to them.......... How about bringing me the money you thought it was going to cost ?? At least that way I can eat this week. Oh well.....We live and learn.

Oh and thank you Mr. Customer, you have now helped me create a new policy of requiring customers such as yourself to leave a deposit before anything gets ordered or any work will get started.



Rick

Rick 386 wrote:

rberq wrote:Is that why as my cars get older and have several cycles of coolant drainings and refillings, the heater seems to perform less well?

if you have access to the heater box, try blowing some compressed air through the fins of the heater core. They seem to attract hair, leaves, whatever

98 Civic. I think it takes a contortionist and an act of Congress to get at the heater core.

Rick 386 wrote:Update: Second motor was swapped. Correct ECM installed and the car is fine. The second motor was even less money than the first and lower mileage to boot. But now it is sitting here waiting for the customer to come get it.

I was at my favorite shop for some work and the yard was full of cars. I asked the owner if they were all waiting to be worked on. He said no, most of them are waiting for the customer to come up with the money to pay for the work already done. No wonder he was always happy to see me -- cash on the barrel head.

So speaking of used motors and other major parts, how do you find good ones? There is an Internet site http://www.partshotlines.com/ that does real-time salvage yard searches for all sorts of used parts. Is this essentially the same lookup service that a junkyard uses if it does not have the part in stock? Is it buyer-beware, or are most of these going to be legitimate sellers? Or do you deal only with a trusted salvage yard that has the parts itself and is not getting it from a secondary source?

rberq wrote:...........So speaking of used motors and other major parts, how do you find good ones? There is an Internet site http://www.partshotlines.com/ that does real-time salvage yard searches for all sorts of used parts. Is this essentially the same lookup service that a junkyard uses if it does not have the part in stock? Is it buyer-beware, or are most of these going to be legitimate sellers? Or do you deal only with a trusted salvage yard that has the parts itself and is not getting it from a secondary source?

I mainly use "trusted yards" in my search. In this case, they actually got it from another yard that they trust. The junkyard business is a tough one. years ago these guys used to have a "hotline" that they communicated amongst themselves. Almost like a CB radio running through the phone lines. They would all use code names so the customers wouldn't know who they were talking to. The 'net changed all that.

I also use http://www.car-part.com Supposedly they list the yards' current inventory. But most times, it is the insurance company who will locate the parts. I will use their particular vendor they selected so that IF there are any issues with the junk yard parts, it will be their responsibility and their headache since they located the parts. On more that 1 occasion, I could have used cheaper and better parts than they located but if they want to meddle in my business, they will pay for that priviledge. I only use good quality parts or will make them to be good quality parts prior to installing them on the vehicle. This is what the customer is entitled to receive. And they do here. I'm not like most other shops. I care about my customers and make it my mission to see that they get their vehicle returned to them looking like the accident never happened. I also have a friend up your way in Windham that is pretty much the same way.



Rick

I haven't paid much attention to this discussion, but this might help the cause.

http://videos2view.net/more-power.htm

I have one!
I bought a 98 Saturn sedan (SL2) a year ago. I wanted something better on gas then the 99 Silverado and the 94 Astro conversion van. Car had 140,000 on it, looked nice, ran well, auto with alot of options. This year, I decided I wanted something...less boring to drive. I sold the car for the same amout I paid(about $2200). Two days before I was to transfer the title, It started slamming into each gear...hard! I called the guy and cancelled the sale, telling him the reason of course. Do some searching on the net, joined a forum or two for information. I read that sometimes changing the fluid, with an additive, and letting the car idle in reverse for 40 minutes should fix the problem--sometimes. I did that and it did nothing. Next, I read that sometimes the main shaft bolts work loose but the trans only acts up when the car is hot so something mechanical like loose bolts was ruled out. Next, the valve body on these cars wear out. The bore hole get worn. I ordered another valve body ($165)and replaced it. Reset the computer. Still no better. I changed the coolant temp sensor and the trans speed sensor too. The only other thing I was told, when the trans fluid get warm, it is leaking past seals in the trans itself. This will require the trans needing a rebuild, or a replacement. I don't want the car! I certainly don't want to put hours of work into the car or $1500 for the trans work!... so now what? I did find that so far the car is fairly easy to work on. The valve body is on top of the trans, didn't even need to drain the fluid to replace it. The trans filter is a screw on type like the oil filter.

2003 GMC Sierra parking brake noise and the parking brake won't hold under moderate rpms...
Hey It's gotta pass inspection, how bad could this be...
Gotta pull calipers & rotors to get at parking brake that sits inside the rotor hat...
Driver's side worn out, try to remove clip holding it...
Yep it snaps...
Brake is u shaped so you gotta contort it to get it over the axle hubs...
Baking plate that keeps the *censored* out of the parking brake is rotted twisted and hits rotor...
But to get that piece out you gotta pull the axle's...
So we gotta pull the diff cover, yep that is rotted too...
So new Diff cover, Synthetic gear oil, Parking brake kit, drill out snapped bolt, New rotors, Calipers, Pads, whole bunch of Brake fluid...
Gotta flush the brake lines...
The hard lines look good...
At least it got done right and I did not have to drop a boat load of cash at the dealer that I hate...

offcoursey wrote:... 98 Saturn sedan ... Two days before I was to transfer the title, It started slamming into each gear...hard!... so now what?

The sudden onset of bad shifting seems to argue against things like old fluid and gradual wear. I cringe to recommend a visit to the stealership, but if they have a decent transmission mechanic it might be a simple fix, or at least they could diagnose it for not too much money. I had a Nissan automatic that suddenly would go only in low gear, so I parked it at the dealer service area on the weekend and left a note, and I was pleasantly surprised when they called and said all it needed was $100 in parts and labor.

I dropped my 1999 Dakota off for repairs that I couldn't do myself due to time constraints and not having the proper facilities to do the work. This was nearly two weeks ago; this upcoming Saturday will officially be two weeks.

The list of work done includes:

Downstream O2 sensor.
Front and Rear Brakes.
Wheel Cylinders.
The entire front suspension was re-built.
OIl Change.
Evap Pump.

The final part that needs to be replaced?

Fuel Filler Neck.

It's rotted and leaks fuel.

I get a call from the shop today. 'We've got a problem.' Is how it starts. They then proceed to tell me that Chrysler in all their infinite wisdom has discontinued the California Emissions fuel filler neck. I am then told that they are going to replace the evap pump then turn the truck back over to me. They also say that if I happen to come across a neck to buy it and bring it to them and they will put it in. So, I call the dealer up and ask for the exact part the garage tells me is discontinued. Dealer confirms this.

"What replaces or supercedes it?" I ask.
'Nothing.'
"So, what you are telling me is that I have a truck throwing a CEL for a part that is no longer made and NOTHING replaces said part?"
'Yes.'
At this point I'm getting annoyed.
"Why the [censored] would Chrysler do that?"
'The truck is old.'
"The truck is old? It's still made."
'Yes, but everything is new. Things have been redesigned, changed.'
"Fair enough. Will the non-cali part fit my truck?"
'No. Probably not.'
"So, does that mean MVC is aware of the fact that I can not repair my truck?"
'What?'
"When I take my truck for inspection. Is the MVC going to "PASS" me with a CEL on? Do they know that the part is no longer available and I can not repair my truck?"
'Ahh..no...no they won't.'
"Hmm...so what? I'm to get rid of my truck then because as you put it, "EVERYTHING'S NEW and been REDESIGNED"?"
'I..ahh...I don't know what to tell you. you could try a junk yard.'
"Right. Then I'd get one in the same or worse condition than what it already in there. That makes sense."

I ended up finding one online; at least I think I did. I mean it's listed Mopar Parts Online's website. I ordered it. Hopefully I get the part and not an email saying that they no longer have the part.

I guess I could try duct tape...or epoxy or I don't know....PVC? Or I could figure out how to convert it to non-cali emissions.

Seriously, what the hell? I'm still wondering how I managed to get a California Emissions Truck in Jersey but whatever.

You've just discovered the REAL reason the EPA is involved with the automotive industry. It ain't about clean air - it's about screwing people out of their hard-earned money.