Gripe about mechanics

[AZ Ron]

The mechanic I took my 88 Reatta to  at the advice of my family has screwed my car up.

I have something called Vascular Dementia.  My doc says possibly due to a mini stroke.  I can still drive ok but my reasoning and dexterity are not 100% sometimes.

My family worried about my working on my old car in case I screw something up and have to take it to a mechanic and spend big bucks.  So this time I did take it to a mechanic in the later part of last year. 

The front cover was leaking as I installed the gasket improperly after I installed a new timing chain set, interrupter and cam sensor.

I was slowly but surely getting a noise from the front of the engine.  I replaced the crank damper only to find out the crank sensor bolts were not tightened down.  The top one was almost out!  That seemed to help but then the noise could still be heard at certain speeds.

Today I got my floor jack out, put her on jack stands only to find that one of the bolts for the flywheel shield was missing and the one that holds up the upper metal portion was cross threaded and not even tight!  This upper shield was clanking around and was the major reason my noise.

I stopped by the garage that did the work and they said they had fired the mechanic that worked on my car due to poor work habits and attendance problems.  Offered me a partial refund.

Crud.  How is it that a 71 year old guy with arthritis, dementia along with limited tools and no lift can diagnose and do a better job of fixing a 30 year old car than a professional?

The only good thing is that I did enjoy the challenge of tracking down the problem and the actual wrenching on the car.

I think I am going to ignore the relatives and keep doing my own work unless it is something that requires a lift.  I am also going to do some research to find a better garage for when I need it.

Thanks for letting me rant.  I feel much better. ;)

[fordrodsteven]

I understand perfectly. I personally have been working on cars since I was 12 years old. (over 50 years now). I took my Reatta to a Buick dealer. I asked them to fix the A/C and check it out to get it ready for a safety inspection sticker. I told them I didn't want to go over $2,000 dollars. They told me they had to give it to the oldest mechanic in the place because no-one else there would know how to fix a Reatta. They had the car three weeks. They gave it back to me with a non-functioning A/C and told me the wipers and horn didn't work. The had reached $1,800 dollars in parts and labor (Condenser, receiver dryer, MAF sensor, Oxygen sensor) and would go to at least $3K if I wanted them to finish getting the AC working. I took the car home. I cleaned the horn connection at the horn and the connection at the wiper motor. My wipers and horn now worked. I drove the car for that year with no AC. The following year I took it to Pep Boys for four new tires and replace the AC compressor. They told me that would have to convert it to R134. I said okay how much? They quoted me $750 for the tires and $900 for the AC (included Condensor, Receiver dryer, orifice, new compressor) They had the car 6 weeks. It took them three weeks to get it apart and back together then for the next three weeks they could not get the AC compressor to run. I took the car home with a non-working AC. I only paid for parts (a total $650). I got it home and came to this web site. Ronnie was a GREAT help. We missed it on the first troubleshoot but then found three days later that my problem was the power steering pressure switch. I changed it and then found I had a leaking evaporator. I changed out the evaporator (I turned in a tutorial to Ron to put on this web site) and now have a functioning AC.

Bottom line is that it seems harder and harder to find people who can do more than plug in a code reader, correctly troubleshoot problems and make a correct repair. I have another whole story regarding a '73 Mustang MACH1 but I've already gone on too long.

[DAVES89]

I know I am lucky. We moved to the Appleton Wisconsin area about 22 years ago and joined a large church. After about 5 years at this church I started a car repair ministry with a few guys that wanted to help single mothers and people in need. Out of that group I made some good friends one of whom is a Master Mechanic and is considered the best mechanic in the dealership he works at. He helps me with all the heavy lifting and is presently helping me with my engine/transmission swap.

I have another good friend who is a farm kid grew up to be a machinist and has a real knack for anything mechanical. He helps me with swaps and "goofy" things that take more then one guy or gets a little involved. 

I'm Ok at swapping parts, but not very good at reading the Reatta Repair Manual so have become adept at junking and having known good parts to swap in and out. Having more then one car helps a lot as well.

 So it has been some time [other the a brake line repair last winter, who wants to crawl under a car in the dead of winter] since I needed a Garage/Dealership's help.