I own a wheeled toilet! Vent about automotive nightmares

Ho le shiiiitt .... It's the Jimmy's sister car!

You know what's completely *censored* up about this?

While I was in their garage emptying out my car for the third time and loading another loaner we were talking about how screwed up it is. He hands me the old water pump. There didn't seem to be anything terribly wrong with it. BUT the thermostat on the bottom of it had a white hard substance on it. He said it was "Stop Leak" and then said that there must be a ton of the stuff in the radiator. When he said that I just looked at him and asked, 'So, if you think one side of the radiator is full of it; which is why one side is hot and the other is cold AND it's causing it to over heat. Why wouldn't you call me and tell me there was a possible issue with the radiator? Instead, you tell me the car is fine then it over heats three miles down the road. No offence (sp?), but, what the *censored*?' then he says to me, 'Well, when it didn't over heat in the garage after running it all day it seemed fine.' Well, yeah the car won't over heat at IDLE. It's not *censored* doing anything. PUT A GOD DAMNED LOAD ON IT!!! Driving it down the road to the traffic light next to the dealer isn't doing anything, what; you hit 35 miles an hour then stopped? The thermostat didn't even open. Take it out, get on it and let it get hot.

I feel like no one knows anything anymore.

Yeah sounds like someone half-assed a past repair using stop leak.

There's alot of crooked bastards out there in the business, mostly here in the northeast or along the coast. No morals, no conscience.

I'll live in poverty before I ever knife someone in the back like that. If I don't want to do a job, I don't take the job. Simple as that.

SMITTY wrote:I'll live in poverty before I ever knife someone in the back like that. If I don't want to do a job, I don't take the job. Simple as that.

DITTO !!! I've worked on too many projects that had been jury-rigged. The owner was happy cuz the cost wuz dirt-cheap, but then I get it and have to explain why it really needs all these new parts. Remove all the bubble-gum, duct tape, and bandaids, and the owners cry poverty anyway.

I certainly don't have an issue paying for the repairs. I just want them done correctly. They changed the T-Stat and then the water pump at my bequest but they didn't look too much into the radiator. If he noticed the stop leak on the old T-stat then why wouldn't he question the radiator? That's what I don't understand. Clearly if there is that much stop leak that it causes the T-stat to cease functioning then there is a problem elsewhere. Instead they did the T-stat and the water pump and that's it. He said he pumped Co2 into the coolant overflow checking to see if it was a cracked head but he didn't check the temp on the radiator until I brought it back.

I'm On Fire wrote:If he noticed the stop leak on the old T-stat then why wouldn't he question the radiator? That's what I don't understand.

I used to think these errors and omissions were due to dishonesty. Now I tend to think it is incompetence and a don't-give-a-damn attitude.

Around here it's a combination of the 2. Every single time my vehicle has been in for something I couldn't do myself (like alignments, custom-bent exhausts, and tires - before I bought the equipment) they screwed something up.

Had an exhaust system made for the El Camino. The angles were so frigged up the pipes were pointed towards the ground, vulnerable to damage, & they were causing loud vibration in the cab as they rattled against the frame. After paying the guy, I had to crawl under there & spend a half hour loosening everything up, & positioning it correctly. When I went to get tires & wheels put on before I had the house here, the guy nearly burned my power steering belt off squealing the *censored* out of it as he drove around the building at full lock .... while gunning the throttle like a tourettes patient ... and laughing about it. When I asked the guy WTF he thought he was doing, he thought I was joking - I made sure he knew I wasn't .. then the smirk slowly faded. What an *censored*! And then I can't count how many alignments I've got ...... pull out of the lot, and the steering wheel is SIDEWAYS!! That pisses me off to no end. I have to tell everyone ... MAKE SURE THAT WHEEL IS DEAD STRAIGHT! before an alignment. Oh yeah, then there's C&R Tire in Worcester who left my entire CAMBER adjustment bolts on my '86 Grand Marquis TOTALLY LOOSE!! I drove all the way to Phoenix, pulling a trailer mind you, before I realized what the noise was! The whole control arm was sliding back and forth on the frame over every bump! I've got a bunch more, but I'm sick of typing already.

Smitty, like you, that's why I started doing my own repairs. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the Subaru to confidently work on it. But then again, neither does an actual Subaru technician. Apparently.

Looks like I'll be doing all of the repairs on it from here on out.

Its pretty easy to work on, but ya gotta be able to pull the engine out for ANY engine work. I did my own head gaskets on my wife's '97 Outback, and it was really easy. Car kept overheating. Wife took it to local garage, who REPLACED the radiator, to the tune of $550! It wasn't the radiator causing the overheating!.

I shoulda did the work myself, first!


I'm-On Fire..... Join the Subaru.com forum. You can find fixes for any issues there..

I'm On Fire wrote:Smitty, like you, that's why I started doing my own repairs. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the Subaru to confidently work on it. But then again, neither does an actual Subaru technician. Apparently.

Looks like I'll be doing all of the repairs on it from here on out.

I was trying to find that thread .... or maybe it was just one post (?) .. of when you did the head gaskets on that Subaru you were selling 4 -5 years or so back. I searched but couldn't find it. Maybe it was one post in Coffee ... but I think this was before Freddy was even on here ....

Heres part of it, after the fact.... Saturday Coffee Page down from this thread to see pics of the finished product.

I still can't find the thread with the pics of the engine.....

SMITTY wrote:I was trying to find that thread .... or maybe it was just one post (?) .. of when you did the head gaskets on that Subaru you were selling 4 -5 years or so back. I searched but couldn't find it. Maybe it was one post in Coffee ... but I think this was before Freddy was even on here ....

009to090 wrote:Its pretty easy to work on

My favorite shop does a lot of Subaru work, and that's exactly how they described them to me: Easy to work on.

I'm going to have to take some time and familiarize myself with it since I can't seem to trust the Subaru techs.

Heard from the dealer today. They said they installed the new radiator and the technician drove the car for 30 miles; they also said that he did not baby the car. They said the car did not over heat and everything is fine. I replied with, "Well, make sure [redacted] drives it through Friday. Because I'll tell you right now if I drive down there seven plus hours Saturday and waste my time only to have the car over heat again I'm going to be very pissed off." The woman said that the technician is planning on driving it through Friday. I may even have him drive it through Saturday just to be extra sure.

But, I'm not going to say that I'm happy that it's not over heating because, until my ass is sitting in the driver's seat I don't believe them.

If they trust their work so much,have them drive it up here