When I read that post I was wondering myself, did the engine come as a basket case or fully assembled and then just dropped in without any checks.
Good catch on that one.

 

...Hasnt EVERYBODY...???
...That and the Go Rin No Sho...

 

I found out the latest - they pulled only one head off, but not the other. And that other which they did not pull off, is causing slight compression problems when cold, and coolant boiling in the reservoir and overheating. When it warms up - no problems.

Any competent mechanic should have known to pull both, especially when it was real easy with the engine out. That engine had 100K on it and it was appropriate time.

It took me 3 months to figure out it's the head gasket, after replacing countless thermostats, radiator cap, bleeding it like half a dozen times and trying everything else, too. I almost replaced the water pump due to that.

Now they are telling me it will run me $300-400 to pull that head. Of course. I told them no, I will do it myself - do their job they should have done but didn't. I didn't argue with them, no point in trying to get little immature boys to grow into mature responsible men. They pretend to be incompetent, but they are fully competent, just don't give a d@mn.

They are there to make money. And with so many cars per week, they just cannot give each individual vehicle the attention it deserves. This work is not meeting my expectations, which are not that high, and the only person who can meet those expectations -- is I. It looks like from now on, the most viable route is for me to service them in their entiriety. I have a F250, Chevy with 5.7 and a compact subaru econobox and nobody touches them from now on whether I am replacing an air filter or the motor. Even if it takes me 7 times longer. (statistically, that is).


PostScriptum:

The underlying problem here, is that this society breeds immature, irresponsible people who lack integrity and character. This is not an isolated example. They are common in *every* profession ranging from the medical field and brain surgeons to street-sweepers. It is everywhere. The ones with integrity are a minority. Those with deficient character are a product of the system, and the System rewards stupidity, laziness and punishes frugality and hard work. It just doesn't pay to be a decent person with a good set of moral values - you will finish last.

Ultimately, it is all my fault.

 

The nice thing about doing it yourself is that whatever tools you buy are paid for by the labor you AREN"T paying for. Even if you started with no tools, the 400 for a head R&I would buy them, the gaskets, and the machine shop work if it needs a valve job.

 

All these apprentices and helpers are using our vehicles for training aids.

 

I would truly love to do all of my vehicular work myself.. Problem is I don't know how to. I try, and sometimes it works, other times it is too complex for me to figure out, so I am at the whim of all the lazy sleazy and incompetent fools who call themselves professional mechanics - If society breeds the type of person who does not care about quality, then the main job those get is in a shop fixing vehicles... because there is at least one mug who cannot fix his own vehicles.. Me. Little things I can do, like change the oil, or tranny fluid, flush the radiator, do the brakes, replace a drive shaft etc, but when it comes to taking bits off the engine, I am totally lost - I know all of the names for the bits, I have studied CD ROMs, books and TV programs, to try to learn, but I have an educational deficit - I am not engine minded, so I can't figure it out. Anyone who wants to inject a little savvy into me?? I would welcome it with open arms - maybe I should travel the country, meeting FTE members, and watch as they fix bits of truck.. I learn fast when shown what to do, it is just tv, the computer and books that fail me.

Theo

 

Motor vehicles are a never ending source of entertainment and amusement to me. They always do the same things for pretty much the same reasons...

Torque pattern skipped?
- Leaks, cracks, air in the radiator, etc...

Rubber lines too old?
- Vaccuum leaks, fails to tune, overheating, thermostat failure, cracked heads...

And so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum...

"Myagi say: Wax on, Wax off... Very simple!"

If only it were so simple, eh? But vehicles are complex machines. To deal with them calls for breaking them into the seperate systems they are made up of and considering each system seperately - evaluating each on their own merits. Trouble in one often leads to trouble in another, like a dietary deficiency can in people.

To build an engine is to restore the basic mechanical systems to their original state. Since this is the heart of all systems in the machine, each of them must be looked at in turn to assure that they are functioning properly.

- Fuel
- Exhaust
- Cooling
- Electrical
- Driveline

When these are satisfied, the rest is available:

-BRAKES! (critical - the most important thing to consider is "Can I stop this crazy thing?")
-Steering (Will it go where I point it?)
-Handling (Wow! Was that a 'dip' or THE GRAND CANYON???)
-SAFETY (Maybe I should bolt the seatbelts to a smaller patch of rust...)
-Climate Control (Sheesh - it's a hundred degrees outside, and TWO hundred in here...)
-Creature Comforts (Tilt wheel, captains chairs, etc...)

All of these are not that tuff to acquire, they start with one basic thought.

I can do this...


"And it's just that easy."
( ~Papa Pondscum, Myakka Fla )


- Gimmee a hand with my soul, and I'll help ya build a "Hot Rod Lincoln"....


*winkezz*

 

Theo,

According to statistics, it takes a novice 7 times as long to do something as a pro.

I've proven this statistic every time in my automotive experience. The first time I took out an engine, it took me about 5 days to figure out. And it was a small 4cyl. I think I can do it in 1 hour next time.

Specialization is an attribute of an advanced society. Generalization is a leap back to stone age and barbarism. Lawyers should learn law, bakers should bake bread and mechanics should rebuild engines, when this trend is disrupted, as it apparently is, that's bad news. You should _not_ have to do these things, rather specialize in "Theology" but the twisted circumstances are forcing us to do more work.

 

There is no substitute for actually playing with the objects that make up an engine. For a start, find a scrap engine to disassemble. You don't have to worry about it surviving and can get a good idea of how it works.

 

Amen to all of the above. After quitting the auto tech field, (Porsches, Ferrari's, Audis etc) out of frustration I know of only one tech that I would allow to work on my cars, besides me that is. Let me tell you most line mechanics are only concerned with the NEXT job, not the one they are working on right now. Come backs (cb's) are not a concern to the shop if the guys makes them alot more $$$ than fixing the cb does.

You have a few options... small claims court, the shop rarely wins these but collecting can be a big hassle. It just depends on how committed you are to make it right.

The second option is to make a big sign telling people what a rip off shop they are and walk around in front of the store during the busy part of the day.

 

Aallron,

Good points;
I am not a vindictive or malicious person.
This is a gray area. They installed the engine I brought them. They did just that. If they were mechanics vs. part-swappers, they would have pulled both heads and invested a bit more thought in it. It runs, but my expectations were just a bit higher. If on the other hand I had found a shop which specialized in engine installs, they would have charged me twice as much, too.

See, this situation is an opportunity for all involved.

For me -

1) Learn forgiveness and stop feeling annoyed (Yes, I am rather annoyed)
2) Roll up my sleeves and go where I have never gone before - swap the stupid thing myself. It is beyond what I currently know, which is why it is a growing opportunity, not just skills-wise, but attitude-wise. I will. I will take a deep breath, open the FSM, find a helper or a web site and do it. 350 is one of the most common engine in the world, but most certainly any engine works represents a serious challenge for me.

For this guy - an opportunity to become something greater than he was before, that is, swallow his pride, admit his perfomance was less than acceptable and fix what's wrong. Instead of coming up with justifications. The fact that he did not use this opportunity is not my concern. In the end, I will win anyway and will have used it all to my advantage.

This is by the way, my criteria for admitting people in my life. People who constantly discard their foolishness and grow in the process. That's what growing is, reassessing themselves and the world. Every person who is serious about finding the truth must constantly undergo this uncomfortable and often painful process.

The rest, well the rest are just mediocre people taking up space. I just let them be, somehow in the end, everyone finds his appropriate place in the universe. It is not my job to help boys to mature into responsible men who do things right. And, I do believe in karma.

I let Proverbs (my favorite book of the Bible) 26:4 be my guide in this case:

Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest thou be made like him.

 

hey there guy! yea just eh... put some water in the oil. Eeeh..then put some more in. After you do this, stick a potato in your tailpipe. Eeeeehhh...then bash your radiator with a sledge. Put a bucket down and catch the fluid...throw it all over the motor! OH! And bust the motor mounts... Then drive it for 3 miles! Call the mechanic you went to and tell him you did what he said to do...the eh...show him the car.

*hint* make sure the potato did its job first!

 

i see one thing here, as a machinist who runs a shop. It is easy to blame the shop for a bad job, but if you took the car, and the motor there, and asked them to install it, then that's what you got. as you said, you could have takin it to a shop that did only engine swaps, and paid them more to get the engine installed, and thourly checked out, but you didn't want to pay the big price.

as my father always says, "sometimes you get what you pay for. IF your lucky"

i see ppl on a daily basis who want things "boged" ( JYW term) back together. and we kindly give them a list of shops that will do that for them. We also tell them how it "should" be fixed, so it would last as good as the orginal, or better. that is all we do, fix things right, and were known as being expensive..... but good.

i'm not giving anyone a hard time, i take the cheap route myself all too often. and only have myself to blame...